Radio Romance
by SnarkyFanGirl
Summary: Bella, Edward, and Alice have been best friends since the second grade, and now they're Juniors in high school. In all that time, Bella has never really looked at Edward as a boy - just a buddy.
1. Chapter 1

**Radio Romance, Chapter 1**

_Meanwhile I'll hide my head_

_Here in this paper bag_

_Cause if I can't see you_

_Then you can't see me_

_And it'll be okay_

_Fly little bee away_

_To where there's no more rain_

_And I can be me _

_- Anna Nalick, "Paper Bag"_

Some days it just sucked to be me.

That's not to say that I have such a banal existence or anything - I'm not so painfully shy that I can't carry on a conversation with a boy, I'm not clumsy to the extent of not being able to walk like a normal person, and I'm not so empty-headed that I don't make good grades. I _am_ shy, I _do_ tend to fall on the clumsy side, and I make straight A's. All that aside, like I said, some days it just really sucks to be me.

The new boy at Forks High - Jasper Whitlock - was completely, totally, and utterly gorgeous. He was almost (almost, but not quite) as beautiful as his twin sister, Rosalie. They both had this really shiny, curly blonde hair. I had never seen that shade of blonde before, and I was completely convinced that it was a bottle job. Only, my friend Alice pointed out, why would a guy go to a salon and get his hair colored to match his sister's? That didn't make sense. Plus, as Alice's brother Edward pointed out, it was a move that would get him immediately ejected from the "man club."

Alice and Edward and I had been friends from the moment they'd moved to Forks in the middle of second grade. I hadn't had many friends at the time, and my parents had been so worried about me that they told me later they'd actually been considering home schooling me. Then Dr. Cullen had moved into the huge house on the edge of town, bringing with him his wife and twins. Alice's first day had been hard on her, and I remembered distinctly how the catty clique (friends since Kindergarten - Lauren Mallory, Jessica Stanley, and Angela Weber) had treated her. Alice was small for her age, and they had made fun of that immediately. They had called her an oompa loompa, asked her when Willy Wonka was coming to save her from the vermicious knids, and if she got to ride on that big boat that made everybody want to throw up. Stupid insults, but hey, we _were_ all seven or eight years old at the time. Anyway, Alice was totally sensitive about her height, and she'd immediately burst into tears - which was a bad thing to do in front of Lauren Mallory, since she ate that shit up with a spoon. I remember watching from the swings as Lauren pushed Alice, and before I had time to think about what I was doing, I had run over and pushed Lauren back.

Alice and I had been inseparable ever since.

It didn't matter to either of us that Lauren made up all kinds of shit about us and spread it to anyone who would listen to her word vomit. It didn't matter because we didn't care. We did everything together - bathroom, lunch, schoolwork, you name it. Our parents seemed to feel like we belonged together too, since they signed us up for all of the same things (t-ball, which I sucked at; dance lessons, which I sucked even worse at; music lessons, which I… surprisingly didn't suck _too_ hard at).

When we started music lessons in fourth grade, that's when Alice's twin brother, Edward, had really entered the picture. For me, anyway. I don't really remember seeing him around much before that, to be honest. And that wasn't saying a lot, since my parents have told me that I didn't have much interest in anything unless Alice did, too. Edward was an awkward kid, really tall and thin and gangly, with lots of skin problems really early. I remember that on more than one occasion when staying the night with Alice, I'd overheard him crying to his mom about the kids calling him "pizza face." I'd felt bad for him, but that was the extent of my exposure to him. You know, except during the music lessons. Alice had opted to try and learn some wind instrument, like the piccolo, which is oddly appropriate in retrospect. She's a little pixie of a girl, and she has this beautiful high-pitched tinkling voice, and the piccolo is the perfect size and sound for her. I chose to try and learn the piano, but the music teacher only had one hour open, and that was the hour right after Edward's lesson. She came to his house and they used his parents' baby grand piano, so when my parents signed me up, they decided I should just have my lessons after Edward at the Cullens' home.

It turned out that either Edward had an eidetic memory or he was just, like, the most gifted piano player _ever_ in this stupid stinking town. Normally I wouldn't begrudge anyone such a beautiful gift, but have you ever gone into a lesson after hearing someone before you perform flawlessly? Do you know what kind of effects that had on my tiny ten-year-old self-esteem? I'll be suffering the aftershocks for years, I'm sure. Especially since after so many years of lessons, I can still barely manage _chopsticks._

Anyway, before I get way off topic - Edward. I don't know why, but some time around sixth grade, he started hanging around us a lot more. His acne was just as bad as it had ever been, but Alice had confessed to me that their father had spoken to a dermatologist in Chicago who had agreed to see and treat Edward. I never mentioned it to him, even though I'm sure he knew that I knew, and I made sure to never comment on the condition of his skin. In return, he never commented on my frizzy hair or the way I walked all pigeon-toed, or any of the other myriad things a pre-teen girl obsesses about that affects her appearance.

And if I had to admit it, I started to actually like the kid. I mean, he was no Alice, and they couldn't have been more different. She had jet black hair that she liked to keep super short, and in the last six months, she'd started experimenting with it and spiking it, among other things (I blame her obsession with Bravo - watching _Tabatha's Salon Takeover _and _Shear Genius _is bound to ruin anyone for ordinary hair, right?). Edward had longer bronze-colored locks that had a slight curl to them. He caught some crap from the jock assholes for having longer hair than his sister, and I remembered the precise day that I started to think of him as a good friend: Tyler Crowley had called Alice a dyke in the boys' locker room, and then asked if I was her butch girlfriend. Edward had subsequently punched him so hard that he'd broken Tyler's nose.

I think I fell a little bit in love with Edward Cullen that day.

All I knew was that, after that day, I no longer minded hanging out with Edward when Alice was otherwise occupied (which was a lot, going into our eighth grade year, as the boys in our school seemed to start appealing to her). As far as the kids in our class, Alice, Edward, and I were towards the younger end of the spectrum. For whatever reason, Carlisle and Esme Cullen didn't mind letting their thirteen year old daughter go on dates, as long as one of them was chaperoning. My parents would die before they let me date so young - especially my mother, Renée. She'd gotten pregnant with me when she was seventeen, and that meant that she'd been stuck here in Forks so long as it took to raise me. It hadn't been all bad for her, though - she and my dad, Charlie, were totally in love. Like, to the point that it sometimes made me sick. During the times when Alice was out on a date, Edward and I would either hang out at my house (where he'd watch sports with my Dad while I read), or we'd hang out at his house with whichever parent hadn't drawn the short straw. Usually his mom was the one who wound up staying home, which I freaking _loved_, since she was the best cook I'd ever had the good fortune to know. My mother was an experimental cook, at best. I'm sure that to this day, Esme thinks that my parents never feed me, since I eat like a pig whenever she cooks anything.

When we hit ninth grade, Edward's skin finally cleared up. Alice constantly complained that he had better skin than she did, and really, where was the justice in that? But her parents wouldn't send her to his specialist no matter how much she begged or pleaded, and I even caught her stealing some of his medicated creams one night when I slept over. I didn't tell their parents, but the next day they wondered why Alice's face looked like she'd scrubbed it with sandpaper and finished off the job with brillo pads. Edward of course knew what had happened, and he'd laughed his ass off over it, trying to explain to his hysterical sister that the creams were formulated specifically for his skin type and whatever else that we couldn't hear because Alice's crying was too damned loud to hear ourselves even think.

Right about that same time, Alice had convinced me to start going to a salon in Port Angeles with her. Our parents would drive us out there once a month (I shit you not, Alice doesn't screw around when it comes to aesthetics, or whatever the hell she calls it). I bought some goo that made my hair stop looking as though I'd just shoved a fork into an electrical socket (hey, ever heard of that Hermione chick from the Harry Potter books? You want bushy hair? She might have been super smart or whatever, but I bet my frizzy hair coulda kicked her frizzy hair's ass), and Alice bought… whatever coincided with the fad she was into at the time. Seriously, you think I'm kidding, but she even talked about putting semen in her hair once when she'd read somewhere that it made it shinier. _SEMEN._ I'm SO not kidding.

And so you know our history. The Three Amigos: Edward, Alice, and Bella. We'd made it to our Junior year of High School relatively unscathed, though wiser for the wear of what we'd already gone through together. Enter Jasper and Rosalie. Funny story about them: according the the gossip, their mother was some kind of feminist attorney, and when she'd had the kids, she'd decided to let Rosalie keep her last name, which was her maiden name, and give Jasper his father's last name. That seemed so odd to me; a set of twins with different last names? And why get married at all if you were just going to keep your maiden name anyway?

Alice had fallen in love upon first sight of Jasper's blonde head. I teased her mercilessly, but her usual blush when it came to boys was conspicuously absent. Usually I wasn't worried about Alice and the guys that she had her fleeting fixations with, but this one seemed different. I don't know why, but Alice's over-the-moon look bothered me. Maybe it was the fact that, for the first time that I could remember, Edward and I were sitting at the lunch table alone.

"So," I began, clearing my throat. Edward glanced up as he unwrapped his peanut butter & jelly sandwich. Usually I would make fun of him for using grape jelly instead of strawberry, but this time I held my tongue.

"So what?" He asked.

"So… have you seen the new kids?" I dipped a french fry in ketchup and shoved it into my mouth a little rougher than was probably necessary. Edward's eyebrows shot up.

"I haven't seen them yet, but you know this school, the gossip mill's always turning. Is the girl really a supermodel?"

"She looks like she could be," I grumbled.

"I have to ask, Bella," he said, giving me a pointed look. "Why all the hostility? What could they have possibly done to you in the scant-" he glanced at the silver watch that he'd worn on his left wrist since eighth grade. "-two hours that they've been here?"

"Alice is completely in love with the boy," I blurted. I felt my cheeks heating up. Edward snorted, something that never failed to make me smile, too, no matter how bad I felt.

"Has she even spoken to him yet?"

"I don't think so," I admitted, playing with the straw in my soda. The cafeteria didn't supply straws, and I didn't like drinking anything without one, so I had a stash of them in my locker.

"Then how can she know that she's in love?"

"She claims it's love at first sight. How can anyone believe in that crap?" He gave me a strange look before shaking his head a little.

He cleared his throat. "I believe in it."

"You do?" I frowned. Maybe I didn't know Edward as well as I thought I did. "I never had you pegged as a romantic. What gives? Have you always believed in it, or is this a new thing?" As far as I knew, Alice had always believed in it. (Alice believed in lots of stupid crap that I didn't believe in - like sometimes she had this eerie way of predicting things that happened, and she'd claim she was psychic. Whatever. I didn't believe in psychics. In my head they were right up there with vampires and werewolves.) I'd never thought it was a bad thing until now, because she'd never claimed it had happened to her before today. Anything that took my best friend away from me was the enemy, with a capital E.

"It's not really something new," he clarified, taking a bite of his sandwich. I sighed and shoved three fries into my mouth, stuffing it full so I wouldn't say anything I'd regret later. I did that a lot - spewed word vomit and then groveled later. I was lucky that neither Alice nor Edward were grudge holders. "So why are you so upset about Alice supposedly being in love?"

"I'm not really," I lied, knowing that he could see right through me. He always did. He frowned.

"Do you like this guy too, or something?"

"Oh, God, _no_," I said, holding my hands up. He looked relieved, for some reason. I could sort of relate. Edward and I were BFFs, but only insomuch as he never gushed about girls and I never talked about boys. It was like, an unspoken rule, or something. "I mean, not that he's not pretty, but still. No."

"Pretty?" He laughed and reached for his milk. Edward was weird about sugar; ever since his skin had cleared up, he'd stayed away from it. Even the jelly on his sandwich was sugar-free. Me? I had a love-hate relationship with sugar. I loved sugar, but it hated me, the bastard. It gave me heart palpitations if I had too much, and like any other person in the world, it sometimes caused me to break out or gain weight. (I was convinced sugar was a man, until I told Edward my theory and he'd pointed out that basically what I was saying was that I was ingesting man-bits every time I had sugar. I never brought it up to him again.) "Boys don't like being called pretty, Bella. They prefer terms like handsome, hot, sexy - even cute would do, compared to _pretty_."

"But I think _you're_ pretty," I protested, shrugging. His eyes narrowed just a little bit, and his sandwich froze halfway to his lips.

"You do?"

"Yeah. See? It's not an insult at all. It's a double standard, is what it is." He was still giving me that odd look that made my stomach feel funny. I squirmed a little bit in my chair, wishing he'd say something and break the suddenly uncomfortable silence. After a few more seconds, he coughed and shook his head before taking a bite of his sandwich.

"You know Alice. It'll pass."

"I don't think it will this time," I said, feeling my forehead wrinkle as I frowned. Damn it, that was the last thing I needed - frown lines! I rubbed my fingertips against my forehead, feeling for the wrinkles that I just _knew_ were there, and Edward laughed. "What?" I demanded, wondering if he could see the lines already.

"You just smeared ketchup all over your forehead." He handed me one of the napkins he'd brought in his lunch. Edward was a little bit OCD, in case you hadn't noticed already. He always made his own lunches to bring from home every day, even though his mom offered to do it for him. He claimed he did it to control his sugar intake, but I knew that he secretly didn't like the idea of someone else touching his food. He cut the sandwich into precise halves, _after_ removing the crusts, which always had to be removed before he could put the sandwich together. He had to have a ratio of exactly two tablespoons of peanut butter to four tablespoons of jelly (We'd discussed this before. I was a huge fan of the jelly to peanut butter ratio he employed, and he'd explained his sandwich making in more detail than I really needed as he'd made me a sandwich once). He also cut his own carrot sticks and celery stalks, since they had to be washed a certain way before he would eat them. It was really weird, because he wasn't OCD about anything except for food. I think sometimes his mom wished he was OCD about cleaning, because I had never seen his room when it didn't look like a nuclear bomb had gone off in there.

I wiped my forehead with the napkin, not really caring if there was ketchup on it or not. I was not only involved in a love-hate relationship with sugar, I was also in love with ketchup. I ate it on practically everything - which was not necessarily a good thing considering that most of the time I usually wound up wearing the stuff. Alice had lent me some designer dress to wear to a school dance once, and while I was there I'd gotten hungry and Edward had bought me a hot dog. Well, _everyone_ knows you can't eat hot dogs without ketchup (it's like, illegal, or something - look it up), and Alice went apoplectic. All I remember is her breathing through the brown paper bag that someone got for her, and mumbling something about some guy named Zac Posen. Needless to say, I haven't been allowed to borrow clothes from her since then.

"Did I get it?" I asked him, trying to look at my own forehead. He snorted again, and I laughed. I crumpled up the napkin and threw it at him, and he jumped when it came a little too close to his open Tupperware container of carrot sticks.

"You got it."

Suddenly Alice flopped down in the seat next to me, which wouldn't have been so bad if the blonde-haired pretty boy hadn't taken the seat on her other side. She smiled at me, and I swear I tried to smile back, but I don't know if it worked or not because Edward gave me a really weird look, and he usually only did that if he knew I was faking shit.

Which I did a lot, actually. Because I avoid confrontations like the freaking plague.

"Hey, guys," she said, sounding out of breath. I arched an eyebrow in question at Edward. What had she been doing that she was so out of breath? He arched an eyebrow right back at me, as if to say, "I know, right?" …or else he was just playing that mirror game that we played sometimes. No, I preferred to think that he could read my mind and agree with me. "This is Jasper Whitlock. He's new here. Jasper, this is my twin brother Edward, and our best friend, Bella Swan."

"Cool. It's nice to meet you guys. Alice has been really great today, volunteering to show me around the school and everything." It was Edward's turn to raise his eyebrows, which he did. Really high. So high that they nearly disappeared into his hairline, in fact.

"Alice has been showing you around?"

"Yeah, she's been great," Jasper repeated. I looked sideways at Alice, who definitely was not meeting my eyes.

"Quite the little joiner today, aren't we, Alice?" I asked, trying to goad her into talking. She straightened her back a little as she unwrapped her sandwich. Alice let their mom make her lunch for her, so Esme always snuck some kind of sugary treat into the bag as a thank-you. Alice didn't eat a whole lot of sugar, so usually I was the one who reaped the benefits of Esme's motherly compensation. It was a win-win situation: Esme got to feel like a mom, and I got a sugar high from whatever she packed.

"Lauren was going to volunteer to show him around if I didn't," she said, almost in an aside to me. I blinked. Ah, so she'd swept in and made the kill first! If Lauren had gotten her claws into Jasper, he probably would never have spoken to any of us. It was another rule of the jungle here at Forks high: the artsy kids (my group, though how anyone could call me artsy is beyond me) never mixed with the jocks (Lauren, Angela, and Jessica were all cheerleaders). If Alice wanted a chance to get to know the golden-haired god (as she'd called him earlier), then this was the only way she was going to be able to do it.

"Props," I said, taking a huge bite of my cheeseburger. She nodded and looked all self-satisfied and stuff. Edward snorted at us.

"So, you have a sister?" Edward asked politely. Jasper nodded.

"Yeah, her name's Rosalie. She's two and a half minutes older than me, and she never lets me forget it."

"Tell me about it." Edward frowned at Alice, and Jasper grinned.

"Alice is the older twin?"

"By seven minutes."

"You totally have bragging rights, then," Jasper said, looking at Alice. I took a drink of my sugar-laden soda and said nothing. I knew Edward hated that shit. He didn't like the whole "little brother" teasing thing, so I never did it. Alice tortured him enough with it, and they'd been in tons of fights over it. The way he was looking at Jasper was enough to tell me that he'd gotten off on the wrong foot with that comment.

"So where is Rosalie now?" I asked, trying to force some conversation and allow Edward to cool down a little bit. Sometimes I thought my best friend was a bit of a ticking time bomb… like I said, he wasn't a grudge holder, but that didn't mean that he couldn't be an ass to deal with when he wanted to be.

"I think she's hanging out with the cheerleaders. She was on the squad at our old school, so I'm sure she's found them by now." Alice and I exchanged meaningful looks. If Rosalie really had sought out the cheerleaders, it was only a matter of time before she'd find out that we were the less-than-desirable crowd… which meant that at some point, she might try to extract her brother from our group. "So, Edward, Alice tells me that you play the piano. Does that mean you're in band?"

"Yes," Edward affirmed, looking less ready to kill him. "Why, do you play?"

"Not piano. I play saxophone."

"Really well, too," Alice gushed, giving Jasper goo-goo eyes. I rolled my eyes and waited for Edward to do the same, but he actually looked interested. Traitor!

"How long have you been playing?"

"About three years. I got a late start."

"Are you going to be in class today?"

"Yeah, I have band right after lunch."

"Me, too." At this point, I began ignoring them. I chose instead to concentrate on seeing how many packets of ketchup I could justifiably consume with the small amount of fries that were on my tray. I reached a personal best when I managed to squirt two entire packets onto one long fry. I shoved it in my mouth and glanced up, suddenly realizing that the table had gone quiet. Everyone was staring at me.

"God, Bella, can you _be_ any grosser?" Alice shrieked. I frowned as I chewed. She'd never said anything to me before about my ketchup habit. I glanced at Edward, who was biting down on his lip and trying to hide a smile. Jasper nodded at me.

"What's your record for ketchup packets eaten in one 30 minute lunch period?" I chewed slowly, wondering if he was making fun of me, but when his expression stayed completely serious, I swallowed my food so I could answer.

"Sixty three."

"Seriously? Do they let you take that many from the line?"

"No. Alice and Edward both grabbed a couple of handfuls for me, and I brought some with me, too."

"No shit." He gave me an appraising look, and then squirted ketchup onto his own tray. "My record is nothing compared to yours."

"What's yours?" I asked, surprised.

"Twenty two."

"You're seriously behind," Edward said, spearing a slice of some kind of fruit he'd brought. "We'll have to help you set a new record - though I doubt anyone could beat our Bella over here - not when it comes to ketchup consumption, anyway." I felt my cheeks warm. _Our Bella?_ Where in the hell had that come from? And why did it make my insides feel all… tingly?

"Did you guys open the packets for her?"

"We opened them _and_ squirted them out," Alice confirmed, taking a very, very small bite off of the corner of her slice of pizza.

"She wouldn't have had enough time to eat the ketchup if we hadn't."

"Was it like, a full-on school event? Did you race someone else?" He asked, looking at me. I shook my head.

"No, it was just something we did one day here at the table."

"This table?" he asked, pointing to the item in question. I nodded.

"This has been our table since freshman year," Edward explained, nodding.

"Does anyone else ever sit with you guys?" Jasper asked. Alice suddenly choked on the bit she'd just taken, and I have to say I took great pleasure in smacking her back for her.

"Ow! Damn, Bella, are you trying to _kill_ me?" She demanded, her face red.

"No, you were doing a pretty good job of that on your own," I said, bewildered. Edward snorted with laughter and Jasper chuckled, too, which only made Alice look angrier.

"Something tells me that you two are never bored with her around."

"If you only knew…" Edward said, shaking his head. Great, so now I was the joke of the group? Ugh. Could this day _get _any worse?

"Hi there." Oh my God, I _had_ to ask, didn't I? Edward, Alice, Jasper and I all looked up to see Jessica Stanley standing over us, grinning like the airhead she truly was. Why was she in her cheerleading uniform on a school day? And why did she look so smug? And why was I asking myself so damned many 'why' questions?

"Hello," Jasper said politely, since the rest of us knew Jerk-sica too well to respond with anything other than the bird.

"You must be Jasper, right?" She held out her hand, and he shook it. I could _hear_ Edward wince, and I knew that later Alice and I would be subjected to another lecture on how many germs Jerksica carried around on those hands, because God himself only knew where those hands had been. (Edward had walked in on her giving one of the basketball players a hand job in the locker room, and he claimed that he hadn't seen her wash her hands since that day - who knew what diseases could be festering on that death trap she called a hand?)

"Guilty as charged." I glanced over at Alice, who looked furious. As furious as a little pixie can look, anyway. "And you are?"

"I'm surprised you don't already know," she said, her grin widening as she glanced at each of us. "My name is Jessica Stanley. I'm the co-captain of the cheerleading squad. Your sister actually tried out this morning."

"That's cool. So is there something you wanted? Because as you can see-" he gestured around the table - "Rosalie isn't here."

"I just wanted to invite you to come have lunch with us over at the _cool_ table." She pointed to a table on the opposite side of the lunch room. Jasper didn't even blink.

"The _cool_ table?" He laughed, and the three of us exchanged wary glances. "Are you for real? Who actually even says that anymore?"

"I think you'll find that there are certain cliques in this school that are undesirable to be a part of, and you're sitting with one right now." Jasper looked at each of us in turn, and we tried not to fidget under his gaze. He turned back to Jessica with a lazy smile on his face.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can decide for myself who's undesirable and who's not." To emphasize his point, he reached out and traced the back of Alice's hand with his fingertip. If she didn't have 206 bones in her body holding her together, I'm pretty sure she would've melted into a puddle of goo. Jessica's face turned red, which was not a good color on her.

"Fine." She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a smug grin. "But I'm sure that after today, you'll want to sit with us, so the offer still stands." She stomped off, and I grinned at Edward, who was smirking at me.

"You don't have to sit with us if you don't want to," Alice offered, her voice breaking. Jasper gave her the same lazy-looking smile he'd just given Jessica, but this time it reached his eyes.

"I know. I want to. Besides, I don't think she's going to be so happy after today. She seems like a -"

"Bitch?" Alice supplied, perking up a little. Jasper laughed.

"Well, you said it, not me. But yeah, and Rose is used to being the Queen Bee wherever we go - she won't put up with it for long."

"Is that your backwards way of calling your sister a bitch?" I asked, dipping my finger in the leftover ketchup and bringing it to my mouth. He laughed.

"I guess it is. Rose can be sweet, though. As long as you don't push her buttons."

"Well it looks like Jerksica has her hooks in her for today, anyway," I said, pointing over at the "popular" table. Everyone turned and looked. "God, not everyone at once!" I yelped.

Rosalie was sitting between Jessica and Lauren, but by the looks of things, she wasn't happy. Her lips were pressed so tightly together that they were turning white. Lauren and Jessica didn't seem to notice and kept laughing and talking across her. It looked like Angela was trying to talk to Rosalie, but every time she opened her mouth, one of the wonder boobs interrupted her. I could never figure out why Angela hung with them anyway. I mean, I understand that everyone wants acceptance, but why put yourself in the company of people who would just as soon tear you down as say hello to you? Voluntarily, I mean?

"I know that look," Jasper said, turning back to his tray full of half-eaten food. "I'd say they have about a minute and a half before she goes Godzilla on them."

"I hope she's like the hand of God," I muttered. "Bitch slaps them down, and stuff." Edward snort-laughed again as he packed up the garbage from his lunch in the disposable plastic bag he'd brought.

"Oh, she'll crush Tokyo," Jasper assured me, laughing. "And I hope you guys won't mind if she eats with us tomorrow. I have a feeling she won't want to go back to their table." I glanced at Alice, who looked _way_ too self-satisfied and happy for her own damned good, and then I glanced at Edward. Once again his mad mind-reading skillz were in effect, because he shot my amazed look right back at me. Not only had Jasper stood up to Jerksica, he was also actually going to keep hanging with us! I wondered how long it would take as a social pariah to break him and make him want to hang with the jerky jock crowd.

It was right as the bell rang signaling the end of lunch that Rosezilla finally reached her breaking point. Unfortunately, we didn't get to hang around and watch the scene, since Edward and I had Biology together. It was on the other side of the school, and we both still had to get to our lockers to get our books before heading over there. Not that our school was huge or anything - we just had a tendency to walk slow. I believe my parents had once called it "ambling."

"So he seems pretty nice," Edward hedged, withdrawing his textbook from his locker.

"I guess. I wonder what his sister is like." I tucked a pencil behind my ear and reached into my locker.

"She was telling Lauren and Jerksica where to go when we were leaving the cafeteria," he offered, shrugging. I smiled at him. He and I had come up with the name Jerksica once when Alice had been on a date, and it was something that only he and I ever used. I had fond memories of the night we'd come up with it - bonding over a Hawaiian pizza (which I could never order with Alice, since she was allergic to pineapple) and a really bad day. "So she can't be all bad."

"Yeah, but remember he also called her a bitch," I pointed out, slamming the locker shut. He took a few steps, then waited for me to catch up to him. "So is her personality going to be like sandpaper, or what?"

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow."

"Enough social crap for one day," I said, waving a hand dismissively. "What did you think of the bio homework?"

"Exactly what you thought of it."

"Too easy?"

"Yes."

"Trix are for kids?"

"Silly rabbit," he said, laughing. I smiled and followed him into the classroom, heading for our table. Naturally when we'd found out we were in the same Biology class, we'd declared that we were going to be lab partners, and had staked our claim on a table in the back of the room. Of course, our Bio teacher had had other ideas, and had split us up. He paired Edward with Amy McIntyre, a redhead and captain of the chess club. He'd paired me with tech geek Eric Yorkie, who seemed to think that because we were both social outcasts he was allowed to put his hands on my butt (among other places). After I had _accidentally_ knocked the dissected frog into his lap and _accidentally _pushed the pile of elephant dung onto him, he'd asked Mr. Banner to switch partners. Of course, by that time Edward was pretty accident prone too (he'd actually managed to dissect the frog, and then knock the tray of extracted organs onto Amy… which I had to buy him a burger for, since technically we weren't supposed to remove the organs. But Edward never half-assed anything), and no one else would volunteer to pair up with either of us. Mr. Banner spent the better part of his classes being pissed at us, but since we had the highest grades in the class, there wasn't really a whole hell of a lot that he could do - other than assign us craploads of extra work. Which we, of course, didn't even really mind.

We spent the entire class listening to Banner lecture and playing tic-tac-toe on a blank page in my notebook (Edward would die before I besmirched a blank page in one of his notebooks. Like his parents couldn't afford to buy him a zillion more). By the end of the class, we were dead even in number of games won. We grabbed our stuff and headed down the hallway together. In a few minutes, we'd be facing each other in P.E. Our school was so antiquated socially that the boys and girls had separate gym classes. They even had separate gymnasiums. This week marked the one week of the year that we got to mingle, which was hell week for me.

It was dodge ball week. Girls against boys. Right, like _that's_ fair, considering the pansy girls I have class with. It'd be different if there were members of the girl's basketball team, or the powder puff team (girls' football) - but my class was full of girls from the chess team, concert choir, and academic clubs. Not that I had anything against those girls, but come on, when it came to sports, I already had trouble - why couldn't I have some tall basketball players to hide behind?

The entire locker room was atwitter. I swear, it was as if these girls had never seen boys before! And what was so freaking exciting that they were giggling like that, anyway? I concluded that they were probably talking about Jasper, and resolved to ignore them. Right about that time, the door to the locker room blew open, and in walked Rosalie, flanked by Thing 1 and Thing 2. I stared at Rosalie until she turned and caught me, at which point I quickly turned my attention back to my untied sneaker.

I caught flack on a regular basis for wearing my Chuck Taylors, but I couldn't help it. I wasn't about to go home and ask my parents to spend $40 on another pair of shoes just to use for gym when I had a perfectly functional pair. Edward always teased me about them because they were bright yellow, but like I told him, the heart wants what the heart wants. (And after I tell him this, I always make sure to point out that Alice has a pair of bright pink Chucks. Then he reminds me that pink is her favorite color, and I tell him I know because it looks like her room has been hosed down in Pepto Bismol.)

I ignored the way my cheeks felt flushed, because I was totally about to make a fool of myself in front of the new girl. I could care less what the stupid hags with her thought of me - I already knew exactly what they thought of me. So did the rest of the school, since Lauren had written her thoughts on the inside of every one of the girls' bathroom stalls in the school. (Really, every stall in every bathroom. Who the hell had that kind of time? At least she was dedicated in her loathing of me. I couldn't really be bothered to exert that much effort on my campaign against her. Plus she did a really good job of being a foul-mouthed slut all on her own, so she really didn't need too much help from me anyway.)

I followed some of the other girls out into the gym, waving at Edward as I took my spot on the opposite side of the room. He gave me a sympathetic smile before turning back to the guy next to him… who just happened to be Jasper. Sheesh, now all we needed was to have Alice here, and everyone would witness my humiliation! I stood off to one side by myself, wrapping my arms around my chest and trying to ignore how lonely it felt to be without Edward or Alice by my side. With either one of them I felt cared for, protected, and damn near content. So long as we stuck together, nothing else (and no one else) mattered.

I watched as the gym teachers conferred in the middle of the room. A movement to my left caught my eye, and I turned just in time to see Rosalie enter the gym, flanked on either side by a hooker-face. She looked so out of place with them. She carried herself with dignity and grace, her hair was perfectly coiffed, she had flawless skin, and she looked amazing in her gym uniform (a gray t-shirt with the school's name and a pair of blue shorts). Jessica and Lauren just paled in comparison. I wondered if Rosalie did that often - purposely put herself in the company of those uglier than her so she would appear that much more beautiful by comparison. I shrugged to myself and found Edward across the gym, aggravated a little bit by the fact that he seemed to be doing the same thing I'd just been doing - staring at Rosalie.

The teachers proceeded to split each class into two smaller groups, each of which was a team. When they blew the whistle, the first black and white death bringers would be hurled across the room. I was not looking forward to this. On one side of the gym was a mixture of one fourth of the boys (which included Edward) and one fourth of the girls (which included Lauren and Jessica), and on the other side of the gym was another one fourth of the girls (which sadly included me - but also Rosalie), and one fourth of the boys (which interestingly enough included Jasper).

"You ready for some dodge ball?" Jasper asked, moving to stand next to me. I blinked. Most of the kids in school stayed as far away as they could from me during gym class. He was a little too close for his own safety.

"Why are you so close?" I blurted. He laughed.

"Edward told me you're not so good at sports. So I volunteered to help you."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," I said, shaking my head. "It's not that I don't appreciate the thought, but in this class it's like I have a bullseye on my chest… and my back… and my head, for that matter." He laughed again.

"I don't mind. I'm not too bad at this game, I'll do what I can, though I don't promise any miracles."

"It's your funeral," I muttered. He laughed again and one of the teachers blew a whistle. Whatever Edward had told Jasper, it obviously hadn't prepared him for the gravity of the situation. Everyone in the entire stinking school knew about my lack of coordination when it came to sports, and I was an easy target for anyone who could throw a ball with any measurable amount of accuracy… which was everyone in the Junior class of Forks high. You know, except for me. As soon as the whistle sounded, everyone on the opposite side of the gym (except for Edward) aimed right at me… which meant that they aimed right at Jasper, too, since he was standing in front of me. Usually I closed my eyes and took the first hit like a champ, just so I could be excused from the game, but this time Jasper prevented that.

I watched as Jasper caught ball after ball after ball and lobbed them back across the gym. After watching him for a few minutes, I felt like I'd picked up on his rhythm, and I actually managed to catch a ball myself - much to the surprise of my teammates… and myself, to be honest. I threw it and watched with no small amount of satisfaction as it smacked Mike "I've-stuck-my-penis-in-more-orifices-than-you-can-imagine-and-it's-probably-going-to-fall-off-before-I-turn-20" Newton right in the face. No one was more surprised than I was - except maybe for Mike. Heh.

Jasper turned around and gave me a quick high five before turning his attention back to the onslaught of rubber balls. I managed to catch three more before I realized that Rosalie was standing right next to me, and was slowly inching in front of me so that she was standing right next to her brother. It felt like I was watching what was going on through someone else's eyes, because I had never lasted so long in anything in P.E. before. I watched as the other side dwindled down to Lauren, Jessica, and Edward, and then it was them against me, Jasper, and Rosalie. To say I was surprised would have been the understatement of the century. I suppose it was inevitable that I would get knocked out sooner rather than later, but just as the ball came soaring towards me, Jasper jumped in front of me and took the bullet for me. I stared in utter shock as he high-fived his sister and swatted me once on the butt.

"Kick some bitchy cheerleader ass, Bella." If Alice hadn't already staked her claim on him, I swear to God I would've been all over him like white on rice. Like a cheap suit. Like… okay, you get the point. I turned to see how his sister would address the situation, but she didn't look at me. Instead she narrowed her eyes at the opposing team and took up a defensive stance. I watched as she caught two balls that were lobbed at her by the bitches across the room, and then hurled them back - hard. The first one happened to catch Lauren's hand, which was anticlimactic for me, but the second ball didn't disappoint. Jessica caught it exactly as I had so many times before - right in the nose. The eliminated team members behind me tittered until it became full-blown laughter. I looked at Rosalie, who was nodding her head and smirking at the girl who looked like she might actually need a nose job to get her face back to normal. Blood started to gush everywhere, and before I realized what had happened, I passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_I've got a right to be wrong_

_My mistakes will make me strong_

_I'm stepping out into the great unknown_

_I'm feeling wings though I've never flown_

_Got a mind of my own_

_I'm flesh and blood to the bone_

_I'm not made of stone_

_Got a right to be wrong_

_So just leave me alone _

_~ Joss Stone, "Right to Be Wrong"_

I was confused. Not that that was an unusual state of affairs for me, but still. I was more confused than I normally was. I blinked several times, trying to get my eyes to adjust to the odd lighting in the room I was in. A few minutes later, I realized I was lying on my back, which was odd too, since it was glaringly obvious that this wasn't my bedroom.

"Bella?" I frowned. Why was Edward whispering? I must have asked it out loud instead of just thinking it - or else his crazy mind-reading thing was working in overdrive, because he answered me. "You're in the nurse's office."

My eyes snapped over to his, and I tried to sit up. He pushed me back down gently, and shook his head. "You shouldn't be trying to get up right now," he insisted. "You hit your head pretty hard against the floor when you fell."

"So that's why it feels like my head is being shaken by an 8 point earthquake," I moaned, clutching the offending body part. Edward laughed softly and reached for something, and then held out two white capsules and a paper cup full of water. "What is this?"

"Extra strength Tylenol. Take it, and you'll feel better soon. Although you might want to have your family doctor check you out after school." He smirked and I rolled my eyes, which made my head hurt even more.

"You mean you want me to come over to your house after school and have your dad look at me?" I clarified, before popping the Tylenol into my mouth and downing the water. I laid back down and he took the cup from me.

"It wouldn't be a bad idea," he said, shrugging. "So, do you want to hear what you missed, or not?"

"What do you mean? I saw Jasper's sister brain Jerksica with the dodge ball. That was what made me pass out, remember? All the blood?"

"Yeah, but you missed the real action afterwards."

"How long have I been out?"

"About twenty minutes."

"Seriously? That's it? And something life-changing happened in those twenty minutes?"

"Yes!" he said, laughing. "Now do you want to hear or not?"

"Okay, lay it on me."

"So after Jerksica got brained and you took your nose dive - or as Jasper called it, your _swan_ dive -" I groaned, and he snorted. "It was down to me and Rosalie in the game. Jasper grabbed you and was helping you, and Lauren was helping She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." I laughed, and my head felt like it was about to split in two. "Rosalie had a ball, and I had a ball. We both looked at each other, and she nodded, and we both dropped the balls at the same time."

"You did what? Wait - why would you do that?"

"You were hurt," he said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Why would I continue a game when you were passed out? Anyway, after that happened, Jerksica starting having hysterics and Lauren slapped her to get her to shut up."

"Lauren slapped her?" I echoed, my jaw dropping. Edward laughed. "Hey, nobody was more surprised than Jerksica herself! If Lauren thought it was going to make her shut up, boy was she wrong! She squealed like a pig after that!"

I couldn't help myself, and I laughed. I laughed so hard that I was sure my head would explode at any moment. And then I kept right on laughing. I was not normally a vindictive person, but I did believe in karma, and Jessica Stanley had definitely put some very bad stuff out there. She deserved everything she got, and then some!

"Well, while we were all getting ready to go and change back, some of the football players came into the gym. Emmett McCarty walked right up to Rosalie and asked her out in front of _everyone_."

"_Quarterback_ Emmett McCarty?" I repeated. The guy was huge - a bear, even - compared to him, Jasper's sister was tiny.

"Like there's another Emmett McCarty at this school," he said, laughing.

"Well? What did she say? I bet she said yes. I bet she dropped her panties right there and-"

"Whoa!" he said, holding his hands up. "Didn't need that mental image."

"Like you don't think she's completely gorgeous," I scoffed, folding my arms across my chest. He blinked at me a few times before he answered.

"She's pretty enough, sure, but she's not my type."

"Your type? You have a type?"

"Yes, I have a - look, do you want to know what happened, or not?"

"Tell me what happened," I sighed, _way_ more interested in the fact that Edward had a type, and the fact that I didn't know about it or even what it was. Come to think of it, I didn't remember Edward ever having a girlfriend. I frowned. Could he be gay? Damn, that would just be the icing on the cake; Edward was just too pretty _not_ to be gay. And he was way too nice and considerate and empathetic to be straight. The more I thought about it, the more I realized just how perfect he really was. He was smart, funny, and kind… and he was my ideal of the perfect guy. And he was gay. Damn it!

"Bella!" He shrieked. I winced.

"Ow!" I whined, holding my head.

"Did you hear a word I just said?" he asked incredulously.

"Um, no," I admitted. "I was too busy thinking about your type. What is it, again?"

He frowned at me. "Why are you suddenly interested in the kind of girl I like?" I blinked. Oh yeah, he was _super_ gay, and obviously didn't feel comfortable telling me. And that made me mad, because besides Alice, Edward was my best friend, and I told him everything. You know, except for when I got my period, but I think he knew about that anyway due to the copious amounts of chocolate I consumed, and the fact that I turned into a homicidal maniac for those few days every month.

"I'm not," I lied, and knew immediately that he saw through my shit, like he always does.

"I don't like supermodel types who wear too much makeup," he said, sighing. I eyeballed him pretty hard. Yeah, he didn't like supermodels who wore makeup because men didn't _wear_ makeup.

"Every boy likes girls like that." Except the gay ones, I thought. Like you.

"Obviously not, Bella, because I don't. I like it more when a girl relies on her natural beauty and is comfortable enough with herself to know that she doesn't need to use a ton of makeup to try and force herself to look pretty." I stared at him. I don't think I'd ever heard him so passionate about anything before - except for personal hygiene, I mean. I gasped. He really _was_ gay, wasn't he? Why hadn't I seen this before?

"Well, that's decent of you… I guess," I said, grudgingly. "So, did Rosalie accept his offer or what?"

"No." I felt my eyes widen.

"No?"

"No." He looked smug, and he chuckled. "She told him to go fuck himself." My jaw dropped.

"She _what?_ Does she _know_ what she's done? Jessica and Lauren have been all over his jock since kindergarten! What did he do?"

"He just stood there with his Neanderthal knuckles dragging the ground while she went back into the girls' locker room!" He cackled. My Edward _cackled_ with glee! Wait a minute… _my _Edward? Where in the hell had that come from? I felt my face get hot, and he leaned a little closer. "Bella? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I lied. He saw through me again - damn his crazy mind reading skillz! I saw him opening his mouth to say something, and decided to beat him to the punch to try and distract him. "So can I leave here now? Or am I quarantined?" It worked, and he laughed.

"Why would you be quarantined?"

"Did they clean the gym? They're going to have to scrub the floor with disinfectant like crazy, because who knows what kind of diseases are lurking in Stanley's blood."

"Oh God," he said, closing his eyes and shuddering. "I hadn't even thought about… oh, _God,"_ he pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Great. We had four whole days left of hell week, and Edward probably wouldn't go back in the gym now even if they threatened him with expulsion.

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to give you a germ-induced heart attack or anything."

"I'm fine. Do you feel better? Headache starting to go away?"

"A little. So are you completely skipping band today, or what?"

"I thought you might like some company. Plus I didn't like the thought of James "date rape" Martin bringing you down here." I blinked in surprise - not at his gratuitous use of air quotes when he said Martin's nickname, he used air quotes all the time (so did Alice, for that matter) - but at the angry look on his face.

"Why would he have brought me down here?" I asked, confused.

"He volunteered to do it, so you tell me." He almost sounded accusing.

"Uh, because he's a tardbox who is just trying to work his way through every warm body in the school that happens to have a vagina, whether they want him to or not?" I offered. He laughed, and for the first time, I noticed that his eyes crinkled around the edges when he did. It was totally cute. Too bad he was gay. I smiled back at him.

"God, Bella. Come on, let's get out of here. You've been through enough today that I think I can

justify skipping out and taking you home early." I didn't argue with him this time. When he got up, despite the residual ache in my head, I got up and followed him.

An hour later (after a stop at the Piggly Wiggly in which Edward had earned my wrath forevermore by not letting me buy the pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream that I wanted, since he said that I always ate ice cream so fast I got brain freeze and I already had a headache and didn't need to compound it, the gay bastard) we were at my house, camped out on the sofa with chips, sodas (water for Edward), and sugar-free Twinkies. Edward had protested and taken the box out of the cart, saying that God only knew what chemicals were inside them, and I said I didn't really care because they were tasty treats that were sent straight from heaven for us to enjoy and besides that they're the only sugar free things I will ever willingly eat, and he asked why I was getting them since he doesn't particularly like them and he's the one who doesn't eat sugar and I said shut the hell up because _God_, was it so freaking wrong to want to share some tasty desserts with him? (Yes, I speak in run-on sentences a lot… in case you hadn't already noticed.) It must have worked, because he shut the hell up and put six boxes in our cart. And I spent the whole drive back to my house wondering why I wanted to share Twinkies with him so damn badly.

"I can't believe you're making me watch this tripe," he complained, unwrapping a Twinkie like it would explode if he touched it the wrong way.

"Tripe? I'll have you know that _Shag_ is like, the best movie _ever_. How have we been friends so long without you ever seeing this? And besides, I'm injured, so you're watching it to placate me."

"Right. I forgot. But this might be a deal breaker on the friendship thing, Swan. This movie is seriously bad." He sniffed the unwrapped Twinkie and grimaced.

"You pansy," I huffed, taking a Twinkie from the box and unwrapping it quickly. "Just take a bite." I took a bite and managed to get half of the Twinkie in my mouth. He wrinkled his nose as he laughed.

"You're so gross." I opened my mouth and showed him my half-chewed food, and he snorted… which of course made me laugh - not a good thing to do when you've got a mouth full of half-chewed Twinkie goodness. Yellow spongy bits sprayed from my mouth, which I fully expected Edward to go into hysterics over. To my surprise, he laughed so hard he started crying. I finished chewing and swallowed the bite, and wiped up the bits with a paper towel before turning to him with a wicked gleam in my eyes. He straightened up immediately - probably having recognized the look for what it was, since I'd given him the same look right before I'd pelted his unsuspecting ass with paintballs this past summer in his backyard. "Bella," he said, trying to warn me. Yeah, like _that_ was going to work.

I grabbed the Twinkie from his hand and ignored his look of surprise as I smashed it into his mouth. He laid there for a second, and then his eyes narrowed. Oh, hell - I was in trouble now! I tried to get up, but his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, pulling me backwards on top of him. Before I could process the fact that his very warm arms were around me, I felt potato chips being smashed against my mouth. I sputtered and reached out for a handful and twisted in his grip, laughing hysterically as I crushed the potato chips against his neck, opening his shirt so they would fall into it. He gasped in surprise. I didn't see him grab the bottle, but I felt the water dripping down my face a moment later. He was cackling - until I wrestled the bottle from his hands and returned the favor.

We stared at each other for a full minute before bursting into laughter.

It was only after the laughter had started to die down when I realized that I was sitting on his lap, and that the front of my t-shirt was damp. His was too, but only just. His smile was completely gone, replaced by an intense look that for some reason made my heart and my breathing feel as though I'd just finished a 10k marathon. His hand was on my leg just above my knee, and his thumb moved a few times over the denim of my jeans.

"Bella," he croaked softly. "What are we doing?"

"I don't know," I admitted, my voice equally as soft. After a few minutes I began to be uncomfortable - both with my damp shirt, which was making me cold - and with the way we were both staring at each other. I got up and cleared my throat, trying to decide if I wanted to say anything to address what had just happened, but decided against it. Before Edward had a chance to address it himself, the front door opened, and my Dad walked through it.

"Hey Bells," he said, smiling. I smiled back, grateful for the interruption. "Hey, Edward. What are you two doing here so early?" He glanced down at his watch and frowned before removing his gun from its position at his hip and unloading it. Hey, my Dad was the chief of police, but he was loathe to have a loaded gun in his own home. He's a good dad, even if he still treats me as a seven year old most of the time.

"Bella passed out in P.E., so I brought her home." Edward beat me to the punch, and I sighed. He was always taking the rap for me so I wouldn't get into trouble.

"Won't you get in trouble for missing class, son?" Charlie was still frowning. "Wait - did you say Bella passed out?" He peered at me through narrowed eyes. "What happened?"

"Jessica Stanley got brained with a dodge ball and bled everywhere." He tried to hide his smile, but I saw it anyway.

"Oh, I see. Well, thank you, Edward, for taking care of my little girl. I can always count on you to do that, can't I?"

"Dad," I moaned, dropping my face into my hands. I heard Edward laughing with my Dad. Traitor! For the second time today!

"She doesn't need me to take care of her," Edward said. Something in his voice made me lift my head and look at him, and the look on his face made my voice catch in my throat. Oh, God, something had _definitely_ shifted between us, and I wasn't so sure it was anything good. "But I like doing it when she lets me." Okay, that was definitely a tidbit of information I was going to file away for obsessing over in the future. Like, when my face stopped feeling like it had third degree burns on it. But not here right in front of Mr. Mind Reader himself. No way.

Shit, I was thinking about it anyway! Damn, damn, damn! Edward smirked at me - that maddening smirk that simultaneously made me want to kill him and kiss it away - as if he knew what I was thinking. Wait… _what?_ KISS IT AWAY? Oh, God, I was _totally_ going to hell. I am officially insane. Edward Cullen has officially, totally, completely, utterly driven me crazy.

"Okay, well… I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Bella." Was it just me, or did he look like he didn't want to leave? I was ready for him to get gone so I could be alone with my crazy thoughts, but of course fate thwarted me once again.

"Why don't you stay for dinner, Edward?" Dad asked, grimacing at the mess we'd made on the sofa. "And you can help Bells clean up the mess you guys made. Teenagers," he muttered, heading to the kitchen.

"Thanks, Mr. Swan," Edward called after him. My dad grunted his acknowledgement, and Edward pulled out his cellphone. I began cleaning up the mess as he told his parents where he was, and asked what time he should be home. By the time he'd hung up, I was already finished cleaning up the mess we'd made. "I would've helped, Bella," he said, his forehead creasing as he gave me a pointed look. I rolled my eyes.

"I know, but you were on the phone, and you know my dad - if he came out here after telling us to clean up and it wasn't done yet, he'd go ballistic and ground me for thirty years." Edward laughed, and I couldn't help but smile back. Maybe I had been imagining things, and nothing had really changed between us, after all.

"What's for dinner, then?"

I froze and gave him what I was sure was a deer in the headlights look of panic. I _hated_ my mom's cooking… have I mentioned that yet? "I have no clue."

"Why don't we go start something, and that way we have control over what we eat?" He suggested. I felt the strangest urge to throw my arms around his neck and squeeze for all I was worth, but I resisted. Edward _got_ me. There was no doubt about that. Jeebus, was I in love with my gay best friend? I ignored the way my hands had started to shake and nodded, leading the way into the kitchen.

My Dad wasn't in the kitchen anymore; he must have gone upstairs to his room to relax before my mom came home. We both loved her, but she was a hurricane in the kitchen, always leaving tons of messes that my dad and I usually wound up clearing away for her. She was a firm believer in "I cook and you do the dishes - and every other thing in the house that I mess up." I opened the fridge and began looking through it, searching for decent ingredients as though I was trying to find the damned holy grail.

"What about lasagna?" Edward suggested. It was his favorite - when his mom made it. It was my favorite, too.

"That'd be great, but it doesn't look like we have any noodles… or tomato sauce… or cheese," I said, sighing and slamming the fridge shut. Edward gave me a devious look, and I blinked. "What?"

"Dad said Mom is making lasagna tonight." I groaned and slapped his arm. "Ow! What was that for?"

"That was for _you_, you jerk! If you hadn't agreed to eat here, I could've been enjoying Esme's lasagna tonight," I whined. He laughed and held up a finger while he flipped his phone open and dialed.

"Mom? Hey, is there any way I could convince you to make another tray of lasagna so I can give it to Bella's parents?" He was quiet for a minute, and then he grinned. "Yeah, Renée is cooking, and Bella and I wanted to beat her to the punch, but there's nothing here that sounds good to Bella."

"Jerk!" I whispered. He rolled his eyes and smiled at me.

"Okay. Yeah, just have Alice bring it over, then. Thanks, Mom. Love you, too." Awww. It was so cute that he loved his mom. Heh.

"Did she say how long it would be?" I asked, practically salivating at the thought of Esme's lasagna. He laughed.

"Jeez, Bella, I think you're drooling," he teased. I rolled my eyes at him this time. "She said it'd be about an hour and a half before it was finished." I pouted. "Hey, lasagna takes a while to cook!"

"I'm more of an instant gratification kind of girl," I replied, still pouting. He arched an eyebrow.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"For _what?_" His other eyebrow went up, and I gasped before smacking his arm again, harder this time. "Pervert!" I wasn't too offended, though, since I knew he liked guys. Actually, it made me kind of sad to know that Edward would never want me in that way. I guess my face reflected my thoughts, because he frowned at me.

"Are you all right? Your mood swings are kind of giving me whiplash today, Bella. I can't keep up with you."

"I'm fine, jerk face," I teased, trying to lighten the mood. It sort of worked, because he stopped frowning, but at the same time, he kept giving me this really intense look. "So, we need to go and finish the movie."

"Please, no," he begged, holding his hands up. "I can't take any more of that movie. Isn't there anything else we can do?"

"My house is boring," I protested, shaking my head. "I don't have a piano for you to play, I don't have anything here that we normally do at your house - and don't even ask Dad to tell you any embarrassing baby stories about me, either." Esme and Carlisle did that a lot - they liked to embarrass Edward by telling me funny stories about him. I'd heard a lot of them more than once, too, because sometimes I would request for them to re-tell me certain ones. Repeatedly. And then giggle my butt off at Edward's horrified expressions.

"How about the front porch? You have a swing. We could just sit out there until Alice comes."

"Fine." I knew better than to try and take Edward upstairs into my room. Without Alice present to complete our trio, Dad didn't like the idea of me alone in my room with _any_ boy, not even harmless Edward. We went outside and made ourselves comfortable on the swing, and for a while we just rocked in comfortable silence.

"Should we be working on our Bio homework?" I asked, not really wanting to move. He shrugged.

"I think we finished it last night."

"Damn our agile minds and uncharacteristic work ethics," I muttered. He laughed.

"Uncharacteristic?"

"Of teenagers," I clarified. He nodded.

"Sure. We may as well be middle aged already, what with our commitment to excellence, and all." It was my turn to laugh.

"Commitment to excellence? Seriously?"

"Hey, you're the one bagging on my work ethic!" He protested. I shook my head and kicked off with my foot, sending the swing moving again. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," I said, shrugging.

"Why were you so surprised when I said Rosalie wasn't my type?"

"I saw the way you were looking at her in gym," I explained.

"And how was I looking at her?" he asked, his voice sounding cautious.

"Like she was something to eat." He snorted.

"Bella, look at me, please." I turned and met his eyes. "I am absolutely _not_ interested in Rosalie. I promise you that."

"Okay."

"I need you to know that, and to believe me."

"O-kay," I said, drawing the word out. Why? Why did he need me to know that? And why did I care why he needed me to know that? Crap, my head was hurting again. Too much stress. Why did I have to be in love with my gay best friend? "I believe you," I added, for good measure. He frowned, but nodded and kicked off so we were moving again.

"So, do you have a type?" I coughed to cover my surprise.

"Why do you need to know that?" I asked, feeling panicked.

"Turnabout is fair play. I told you," he pointed out. I sighed.

"Fine. I guess I've never really given it much thought before today, though."

"But you thought about it today? Why?"

"I asked you, and then I started thinking about it."

"And?"

"And… I guess if I had a type, it'd be somebody who's kind."

"Is that it?" I looked upward, my eyes locking on a particularly dark gray cloud. It was going to rain any second.

"I guess he'd have to be smart, too, because I couldn't be with someone who was dumber than me. Even if it _does_ mean I'd be able to control him."

"Okay," he said, snorting. I smiled.

"And he'd have to be funny, too. I'd be bored to tears without laughter."

"A definite must," he agreed.

"_And _he'd have to love his mother." He gave me a strange look.

"Why?"

"Because everybody knows that a man who mistreats his mother is also going to mistreat his girlfriend. If he respects his mother, you know he's a good guy who will be good to his girlfriend, too." His eyebrows shot up.

"You just thought of this today?"

"Nah - that last one is something my dad taught me to look out for." I shrugged.

"Anything else?"

"Jeebus, Edward," I breathed. "How much more _should_ there be?"

"I was just wondering. You're being really defensive."

"So?"

"It's just making me wonder whether or not you've got someone in mind already and don't want me to know who it is."

"I don't have anyone in mind," I lied, not looking at him.

"So I can't help but notice that you didn't say anything about the way the guy has to look," he hedged softly. I turned and made a face at him, which he laughed at.

"Do you really think I'm that shallow?"

"Looks aren't important at all to you?"

"Well I'd be a liar if I said no, wouldn't I?"

"So they _do_ matter, and you _are_ shallow," he teased.

"I think that he's the kind of guy that I'd like to look at all day and wouldn't get tired of doing it - but that doesn't mean that anyone else would necessarily think he was good looking. I think what you know about someone makes them seem more or less attractive to you. Don't you?"

"Those were my thoughts exactly," he said, his voice so quiet I could barely hear it. "So do you think I'm shallow then?"

"Why would you ask that?" I squinted at him.

"You accused me of liking Jasper's sister because you think she's pretty."

"Edward, you are the _least_ shallow guy I know," I said honestly. He grinned at me.

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me for the truth," I scoffed, though I was secretly pleased. We sat in silence for a few more minutes, and then Edward's cell phone rang.

"Hello?" He mouthed Alice's name, and I nodded. "No, Mom's making an extra pan of lasagna and you get to bring it over here for me and Bella and her parents."

"What do you want, hooker?" I yelled into the phone. Edward snorted and held the phone away from his ear a little, since I was sitting next to him and even I could hear her like she was standing in front of us (she hated it when I called her that). When the yelling had stopped, he put the phone back to his ear.

"He is? Really?" he covered the mouthpiece with his hand and whispered "Jasper is going to my house for dinner with Alice!" He removed his hand and said, "No, I heard you. Okay. Yeah, we'll see you then." He closed his phone, and I was still gaping at him.

"They just met today and he's already meeting your parents? What the hell is going on with them?"

"Apparently she's completely in love." He shrugged. "You know Alice, when she jumps into something, she does it with both feet and no hesitation. It's all in or nothing."

"I know. Sometimes I wish I was more like her."

"How so?"

"I don't know. She's just fearless, you know? And sometimes I feel like I'm afraid of everything. She tells me all the time that I don't take any risks, and-"

"Without risks there can be no rewards," he finished, rolling his eyes. I laughed and nodded. "Yeah. She tells me the same thing sometimes too."

"Really? I've never really thought of you as afraid of anything. You're pretty fearless, too." He was quiet for so long that I turned to see if he had maybe fallen asleep or something. I was met instead with intense green eyes that I had always felt could see right through me. "What?"

"_What_ what?" he asked, shaking his head a little bit.

"Silly rabbit," I laughed. He snorted. It was juvenile, sure, but we got a kick out of it. We had discovered early on (before he gave up sugar, anyway) that Trix was a shared favorite breakfast cereal (we'd fought over the last little bit in the box the first time I'd ever slept over at Alice's), and it had been a private joke ever since. One of many, actually.

"I think it's actually pretty romantic," he said finally. I blinked at him.

"What is?"

"Alice and Jasper. Love at first sight. All that stuff," he said, waving his hand. I sighed and rested my chin on my fist. Yeah, he was so gay, it hurt. Damn it.

"I suppose. I don't know about love at first sight. I'm more of a "gotta know ya forever before I decide if I love ya" kinda girl." I bit down on the inside of my cheek. Why the hell had I just said that? Damn it, that was just as good as an admission! Why didn't I just scream it from the mountaintops? I was an idiot. If I'd had one in front of me, I would have slammed my head against the wall. Repeatedly. Until my brain damage had rendered me incapable of caring about how big a fool I made of myself.

"Oh," he said, his voice sounding way too casual. Thankfully I was saved by the sound of Alice's tires crunching on the gravel of my driveway.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_Yesterday I got lost in the circus_

_Feeling like such a mess_

_Now I'm down, I'm hanging on the corner_

_Can't help but reminisce_

'_Cause when you're gone, all the colors fade_

_When you're gone, no New Years day parade_

_You're gone, colors seem to fade_

_~Amos Lee, "Colors"_

Edward's car pulled into my driveway at exactly seven thirty one - which was twenty nine minutes earlier than he normally showed up. Usually we didn't leave my house until eight o'clock, and since first period started at eight twenty, we had plenty of time to get from my house to school, park, and get our crap from our lockers. My dad banged on my bedroom door.

"Bella! Edward and Alice are here!"

"Tell that evil pixie and her brother that I died! Go to school without me!" I pulled my pillow over my head and waited. If I knew Alice - and I _knew_ Alice - it would only be a matter of seconds before she came in and forcibly removed me from my bed.

Sure enough, a few moments later I felt the pillow being ripped from my hands. I groaned and threw my arms over my head. "Alice," I whined. "Come on! Why are you guys here so early?"

"I brought you -" I heard Edward clearing his throat. "Oh, all right - _Edward_ brought you Starbucks to make up for it." I perked up and moved my arms, cracking one eye open to peek at the cup. Faster than you can say macchiato, I had snatched the cup from her evil little pixie hands and was nursing it. Aaah, that was better! Caffeine, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…

"Bella," Edward said, laughing. I winced. Being so happy this early in the morning was just _wrong._ And, I was pretty sure, illegal. "Sorry we're here so early, but my sister has a breakfast date, and I didn't want to leave you without a ride to school."

I frowned at Alice, determined to let her know how displeased I was with her. Her relationship was already getting on my nerves and messing with my sleep habits - and no one's relationship but my _own_ should be doing that. You know, except for the fact that I totally didn't have one. What? I did _not_ dream about my perfect god-like gay best friend all night. I didn't!

"Alice, you make me want to light myself on fire sometimes, do you know that?" I groaned, clutching my cup of sweet ambrosia.

"Quit being so dramatic and get dressed," she commanded.

"Harpy," I muttered, choosing to ignore her and focus on my coffee. She exhaled noisily and went to my closet, going through my clothes.

"Jeebus, Bella!" (I know we sound alike, but hey, you try spending almost every waking moment with someone for nine years and _not_ pick up a crapload of the same phrases and mannerisms!) "When was the last time you bought new clothes?"

"I bought new clothes last week," I said, pushing an errant strand of hair out of my face.

"Show me," she demanded, turning to look at me and putting her hands on her hips. As if I'd find that frightening. It's hard to be intimidated by a pissed off Tinkerbell. I would, of course, never say that to Alice - mostly because she'd probably buy me a puppy and let me get attached to the puppy and then sneak into my room someday and punch me. She was that type.

"Alice, I'm too tired," I whined, letting my shoulders slump.

"You're going to be late," Edward pointed out. Alice's eyes widened a little bit, and she turned and looked at her brother.

"We've got to go. NOW." She grabbed a pair of jeans and threw them at me, and then grabbed a (what I guessed she thought was the least offensive) shirt and threw it at me. "Get dressed, Bella!" She barked. She grabbed Edward's arm and pulled him out of my doorway, and I laughed as I heard him arguing with her all the way down the stairs. I got dressed and brushed my hair quickly before pulling it up in a ponytail, and I grabbed my shoes and ran downstairs. I'm sure I probably looked pretty comical - shoes dangling from one hand and my Starbucks cup in the other. I sat down on the sofa and tugged on my yellow Chucks, ignoring Edward's snickering. I gave his black Chucks a pointed look, and heard him snort.

"Mine are _black_. Way cooler than yellow."

"Whatever. Yellow is the color of the sun - it kicks black's butt any day."

"Black goes with everything," he countered. Oh yeah, he was über gay. My caffeine high dissipated just a little bit.

"Would you two just come on already?" Alice asked, exasperated. I rolled my eyes and finished tying my laces, and called a hurried goodbye to my parents before grabbing my backpack and following my friends out to the car.

"Shotgun!" I called, opening the door and diving into the front passenger seat. Alice jumped in the back without saying anything, which was highly unusual. Typically we fought like catty bitches over the front seat (which Edward always got a huge kick out of, and this one time he even recorded a video of us on his phone, which Alice toilet papered his room for when she found out about. I think there's still some toilet paper in his room somewhere left over from it). Edward got behind the wheel and started the car, and I turned to look at Alice. "Really? What the hell, Alice?"

"What?"

"You didn't want to sit up front?"

"Arguing would have taken time. This way we get there faster." Her eyes looked all dreamy, and she turned and looked out the window again. I turned back to give Edward a "what the hell" look, and he returned it. He shrugged, and we finished the drive to school in silence. As soon as Edward had put the car in park, Alice jumped out and took off. I sat there and stared in stupefied silence (alliteration! I'm so much fun. Some people would consider it a curse to be smart, nice, _and_ funny, but I'm rather humble, I feel. It's a burden I can totally bear).

"Well, that was … unexpected." Edward cleared his throat. I followed Alice's form with my eyes and felt them nearly pop out of my head when I saw her find Jasper and proceed to let him shove his tongue down her throat. Or they could have just been kissing. Whatever. Either way, sudden, much?

"So I guess he's as into her as she is into him," I deadpanned. Edward shrugged, and then his face lit up with a smile.

"I brought you something."

"More coffee?" I asked hopefully, even though there was still a little bit of liquid left in my venti sized cup (I know it's the biggest size Starbucks has - if Edward bought me coffee, he always bought me the biggest one they had. I told you, he never half-asses anything). He laughed and shook his head, and I pouted. I did that a lot, apparently. Huh. I'd never noticed that before now. He reached into the back seat and grabbed a brown paper bag, which he held out to me. The Starbucks logo called out to me. It was like a siren song. There was no way that I could _not_ take that bag from him (and the smarmy bastard knew it, too, as evidenced by his irritatingly cute smirk). I yanked it out of his hand and opened it, plunging my hand in and withdrawing a blueberry muffin topped with streusel.

"There's more," he encouraged, nodding his head at the bag. I peered into it, and reached down to find a heavy, tissue-wrapped ….thingy. I peeled away the crinkly paper and stared at the beautiful glass coffee mug I'd been lusting after for weeks.

"I love you," I blurted. Damn my word vomit! Why the hell wasn't my brain filter working today? You know that voice that most people have in the back of their minds that, when they're about to say something speaks up and is all, "Hey, maybe it's not a good idea to say that right now, jackass!"? I swear to God that I have it (even though sometimes I choose to ignore it - okay, fine, I ignore it a _lot_, but now wasn't one of those times)! I peeked up at him and relaxed when he started laughing and shook his head.

"Yeah, I know. Come on, we'd better get in there. You can eat your breakfast on the way in."

"Did you eat already?" I asked through a mouthful of blueberry muffin. He wrinkled his nose and laughed at me again.

"Actually I did. Starbucks has this new breakfast oatmeal stuff, and I got a sugar-free-"

"Vanilla latté. Yeah, yeah. You're predictable as hell, Cullen. So you had twigs for breakfast?"

"Oatmeal is not made out of twigs, Bella, and you know it." He sighed.

"Ugh." I grimaced and wrinkled my nose. "I can't believe you eat some of the stuff you do." I shoved the remainder of the muffin in my mouth, and he laughed again. Why in the hell were my two best friends morning people? I was definitely a night owl. Remind me why I loved these two pains in my ass so damned much? (Because Alice was my guru on all things love and fashion related, and Edward was … well, Edward was… damn it. He did a lot for me, okay? Like going out of his way early on a school morning and buying me a venti cup of crack and a delicious baked good and a beautiful, thoughtful gift that any other boy wouldn't have even known I wanted… plus, he usually suffered through my shit with a smile. God, he was amazing. Too bad he was gay.)

"So I was thinking about driving to Port Angeles today after school," he began warily. I was instantly completely awake and disgustingly cheerful.

"Uh huh, and you're taking your favorite girl with you, right?" I batted my eyes at him.

"Well, Alice _did_ say she needed a new pair of shoes to go with- _oof_," he grunted as the palm of my hand met with the right side of his chest, which I most definitely did _not_ linger over and try to feel through the soft cotton of his t-shirt. "Fine, wench, you can go! Just eighty six the smacking, okay?" He rubbed the spot I'd smacked and winced a little.

"Wench? Seriously? Have you been watching the _Pirates of the Caribbean _movies again?" I gazed suspiciously at him, and got my answer when his cheeks pinked.

"I can't help it. I'm madly in love with Keira Knightly." Uh huh. Poor boy was probably ogling Johnny Depp. Or maybe Orlando Bloom. Who knew? That movie had a lot of male eye candy.

"She is the ugliest chick in Hollywood," I hedged, frowning. "Brown hair and brown eyes? I mean, really? Could you have picked anyone duller?"

"I happen to _love_ brown hair and brown eyes," he said defensively. I rolled my eyes. Well, that meant that he definitely hadn't been ogling Orlando Bloom, which meant that he liked Johnny Depp. I had to give it to him, he had excellent taste. Maybe he'd be up for a Depp filmfest later this week. I could go for that - oooh, along with a pint of Ben & Jerry's, and-

"Bella?"

"Boring," I sing-songed.

"Fine, who would _you_ suggest I lust after, then?"

"This bears some thinking about," I said, shaking my head.

"Who would you lust after, if you were a guy?" I drained the last of my coffee, relishing the syrupy sludge at the bottom of the cup.

"Well, if you _have_ to have someone with brown hair and brown eyes, then… Idina Menzel," I said finally, tossing my cup into the garbage can on our way into the building. He rolled his eyes.

"Bella, I know you have this weird fascination with musical theater, but-"

"Don't you _dare_ say she's not a movie star," I said, doing my best to sound threatening as I wagged a finger in his face. "She was in that movie version of _Rent_, remember?" Shit. The fact that he even knew who she was and that she was associated with musical theater was solid proof of his gayness.

"Yes, but we both know that you weren't thinking about _Rent_, you were thinking about _Wicked_," he countered, shaking his head. If I had a gaydar, it would have been going off like a mofo right about now.

"Hey, she was also in _Enchanted!"_ I shrieked. He chuckled. "She counts!"

"She _is_ pretty," he said hesitantly. I tried not to look too smug. Okay, I totally didn't try and I looked extremely smug. I nodded knowingly at him.

"See? The woman is always right."

"The woman is a shrew and a drama queen to boot," he retorted, grinning. "So now what? You want me to replace my Keira Knightly poster with one of Idina Menzel?"

"Don't even," I scoffed. "You don't have any posters on your damn walls. One of these days I'm going to come over while you're gone and plaster your room with posters."

"Of what?"

"It wouldn't be any fun if I told you, would it?" I shot back. He rolled his eyes and looked down at his watch.

"Hey, I'm gonna go ahead and head over to Trig, okay? I'll see you at lunch."

"See ya." I waved, and made my way to English. Boring, boring, boring. I loved English, but sometimes it was boring because Mike "manwhore" Newton liked to hijack the class with his armpit farts and whatever else he and the other jocks thought was funny. Mr. Mason usually spent anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes of valuable class time trying to calm them all down, and threatening them with detention. I zoned out during these times. I was basically a zombie until lunch time, at which point I snapped out of my trance long enough to grab whatever looked like the greasiest, most fattening things offered that day.

I sat down at our usual table, where Alice, Jasper, and …_shit_. Rosalie was actually sitting next to Alice, listening to my best friend nattering on about the importance of matching the color of your nail polish to the color of your purse. I sighed. It looked like the blonde twins were going to be regulars at our table, so I might as well get used to it. Alice looked up when I sat down and smiled at me.

"Rosalie, this is my best friend, Bella. Bella, this is Jasper's sister, Rosalie."

"Hey," I said, nodding. She nodded back.

"Hi." I was glad she didn't feel the need to point out the fact that we had gym class together, since that would probably spark some uncomfortable discussion about my lack of coordination. Pass. Edward dropped his brown lunch bag on the table and sat down heavily next to me.

"And this is my brother, Edward," Alice said, smiling at him. She threaded her arm through Jasper's and leaned her head on his shoulder. I was glad I hadn't eaten anything yet when I saw him rest his head against hers. They were so cute I wanted to gag!

"Hi," Edward said, waving his hand quickly at her. He turned his attention to me, and I was immediately relieved that he wasn't going to fuss over her or stare the entire time. Bless him! "So, are you still riding your sugar high, or do we need to make a trip to Starbucks on the way to Port Angeles?"

"There's a Starbucks here?" Both Edward and I turned to look at Rosalie, who was staring at us with one perfectly shaped eyebrow arched. Edward nodded.

"Yeah, it's over on the other side of town - but it's really small. If you want one of the big stores where they actually have retail, you have to go to Port Angeles. There's two or three of them there."

"Shit, you mean I could be drinking coffee right now instead of this swill?" She gestured to her can of Diet Dr. Pepper. She turned accusing eyes to her brother. "Why didn't you tell me this, bitch?"

I had a feeling I was going to like Rosalie Hale, even though I desperately wanted not to.

"Like I knew," he shot back, shrugging. "I've been here just as long as you have, and besides, you know I hate coffee." I shot Jasper a dark look.

"I think I'm going to have to ask you to leave, Whitlock," I said. His laughter mingled with Alice's, and I turned back to Edward. "I'm definitely going to need another hit."

"Why are you going to Port Angeles?" Alice asked, perking up a little bit.

"I want to check out Crossroads for some new sheet music," Edward said, pulling various objects out of his bag and placing them on the table in front of him. "And Bella wants to go to Odyssey."

Alice wrinkled her nose. "Ew. That place always smells bad." I glowered at her.

"Books don't smell bad, Alice."

"Can we come?"

"Why?"

"Rosalie and Jasper are new here, and it'd be nice to show them around. Besides, it's about time for one of our salon visits, Bella."

"Please, no," I said, holding my hands out. "You know I need like, a week to get used to the idea of going! You can't just spring it on me!"

"Fine," Alice huffed. "But your highlights need to be touched up, and you're running out of your Bed Head."

"How do you know that?" I asked suspiciously. Had she gone through my bathroom this morning? Meddling, nosy pixie! Damn you, Tinkerbell!

"Because your hair is frizzy today," she said simply, shrugging. (See? Alliteration again. I so rock.)

"You have highlights?" Rosalie asked, leaning towards me a little bit. She narrowed her eyes, and I stiffened.

"Alice made me," I accused, pointing my finger at her. "I don't see the point."

"They're beautiful because they look so natural," Edward offered, unwrapping his sandwich. Four pairs of eyes turned to him, but he didn't notice because he was too busy with his food. I felt a tingle start in my toes and work its way up, and then Alice was squealing because she saw the look on my face, which I'm guessing showed that I suddenly didn't want to light myself on fire at the thought of being dragged into the salon today.

"I'll call and make the appointments right now," she said, whipping her cell phone out. "Rosalie, should I make one for you, too?"

"Sure. I could use a change, I guess," she said tossing her hair behind her shoulder. I took a huge bite of pizza and popped the tab on my Mountain Dew. Edward wrinkled his nose at me.

"Jeez, Bella. Want some blood in that caffeine system?" I opened my mouth and showed him my half-chewed food, and he snorted. "In case you're interested, I brought you something." I sat up a little straighter and gave him an expectant look.

"Ud iff iss?" I asked through my mouthful. I loved surprises. Alice sighed, and Jasper chuckled. Edward rolled his eyes and reached into his bag, and I watched as he withdrew a plastic baggie. My salivary glands immediately began working overtime, and I swallowed my food. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Would I tease you?"

"Yes, you would, Jerkward! Now _gimme_," I snapped, snatching the bag out of his hands. He laughed as I clawed the bag open.

"What is that?" Jasper asked, nodding at the bag that I had abandoned my beautiful cheesy, greasy pizza for.

"One of my mom's brownies," Alice said, reaching into her own lunch box and withdrawing a brownie. She held it out to Jasper. "They're Bella's favorite. We can share mine, if you want." Edward cocked an eyebrow at me, and I growled at him.

"No way in hell," I snarled, getting half of the brownie in my mouth with one bite. He laughed.

"Like I'd eat that monstrosity anyway."

"Why not?" Rosalie asked, taking a swig of her soda. "Damn it, why don't they have straws at this school? I hate getting my lip gloss all over the can." Okay, she might be pretty cool, after all.

"Bella keeps a box of straws in her locker," Alice offered. "She won't drink anything without them - except for coffee. Do you have any extra ones with you?" She looked at me, and I shrugged, reaching into the small zippered section of my backpack and pulling out the box of multi-colored bendy straws. I held the box out to Rosalie, who took one.

"Thanks."

"No big." I shoved the other half of the brownie in my mouth, and Edward laughed at me as my eyes rolled back in my head and I hummed with pleasure.

"Oh, hell," Rosalie muttered, her expression darkening. "Here comes that fuckwit Stanley."

I swear I was beginning to develop a girl crush on this chick.

"Rosalie," Jessica chirped. "What's up?"

"The ceiling, the sky, gas prices - take your pick," Rosalie answered dryly. Jessica looked confused for a minute, and I snorted, nearly choking on the remnants of the brownie I was inhaling. Edward kicked me under the table. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to ask you if you were going to come and sit with us, now that both Lauren and I are here."

"As you can clearly see, I am already sitting down."

"Well, yeah - but now that we're here, you don't have to hang with these losers," Jessica said, wrinkling her nose as she glanced around at us.

"All right, bitch," Rosalie began, standing up. Ooh, this was going to get good, and I was so ready for it, since I'd missed Rosezilla the day before! "Call my friends losers one more time, and see what I do to your skanky ass." I glanced over at Edward, who shrugged at me. We were her _friends_ now? I'd barely known her for twenty minutes!

"God, Rosalie," Jessica said, her eyes darting around nervously, taking in all of the people who'd suddenly lost interest in their mystery meat-filled lunches. "I didn't mean anything by it. I'm sorry."

"Apologize to _them_," Rosalie ordered, pointing to us. Jessica flinched.

"Sorry, everyone. Look - I'll see you in P.E., okay?" She turned and fled, and shortly afterwards I saw Lauren get up and run after her. Rosalie sat back down and rolled her eyes.

"What the hell, Rose?" Jasper demanded. "We've been here one day, and you barely know her. Why-"

"Shut the hell up," Rosalie snapped. "That bitch has been driving my ass crazy since we got here yesterday morning - 'popular' this, and 'cool' that. She's a fucking airhead, and you know I hate that shit."

I think I might be a little bit gay like Edward, because I was pretty sure at this point that I was in love with Rosalie Hale.

"I'm actually surprised that she apologized when you told her to," Edward remarked, opening his bottled water and taking a drink. "She must really like you."

"Please," Rosalie scoffed, rolling her eyes. "She just knows that my family has more money than God, and she wants to suck up to me. Besides, it's never a good idea to piss off the captain of the squad," she said, inspecting her perfect nails. Alice's jaw dropped and Edward's forehead crinkled as he frowned.

"Jessica's the captain," he said, sounding confused.

"Not as of yesterday afternoon."

"Rose is a big fan of hostile takeovers," Jasper supplied, chuckling. Alice giggled.

"How in the hell did you convince them to vote you captain?" I asked, perplexed. "Jessica has been captain since our Freshman year."

"I think you'll find that people are much more willing to overthrow you for someone they don't even know when you've been a total prick to them for three years."

"Huh," I said, picking up my pizza and taking a bite of it, since my brownie was gone.

"Tell them what else you're doing," Jasper prodded. Rosalie took a compact out of her purse and began inspecting her flawless face in the mirror of it.

"I'm holding open auditions for the squad next week," she said casually, as if she _hadn't_ just dropped a mega bomb on us.

"But that hasn't been done since before we started here," Alice squeaked. I shrugged and went on eating my pizza, watching out of the corner of my eye as Edward chewed thoughtfully on a pretzel stick. "Jessica always hand picks the squad members that she wants."

"That explains why half of them don't have two brain cells to rub together, then," Rosalie huffed.

"It also explains part of the reason Emmett asked you out yesterday," Edward commented. Rosalie's eyes narrowed, and even I could tell that he'd better tread carefully. Apparently he didn't notice the look she was giving him.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that he's pretty much plowed his way through the cheerleaders, and he probably thought that since you're one of them now, you're the same as them. I'm guessing he didn't try to speak to you before he asked you out, or he would've noticed the difference." Rosalie's expression softened, and she smiled at him. My breath caught in my throat. I had never seen someone so pretty in person, and it was kind of devastating to watch her aim that killer smile at _my_ Edward. When he looked dazzled, I experienced a moment of panic. What if he wasn't totally gay? If he was even a little bit straight, he might go for her. Crap! I had to diffuse this situation somehow, and quick…

"Are you gonna eat that?" I pointed at the half of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich that he hadn't touched yet. He blinked, Rosalie's spell broken, and turned to me.

"No, you can have it." Damn it! He pushed it towards me, and I took a bite, feeling miserable. If he'd lost his appetite suddenly it could mean that he was lovestruck by her, and that did not bode well for me. I ate the sandwich in silence, not even able to enjoy the peanut-butter-to-jelly ratio.

After lunch, Edward and I walked to Bio in silence, something that we hadn't ever done in the history of ever. I was more than just a little bit worried about what it would mean for me if Edward and Rosalie started going out. If both of the Cullen twins were dating both of the Whitlock/Hale twins, where would I fit in? I wouldn't. And then I'd be alone and an outsider, and I wasn't friendly enough with anyone else in this school (hell, in this entire town) to hang out with. If I lost Alice and Edward… I swallowed, my throat suddenly feeling thick. If I lost Edward… I couldn't think about it.

"Hey, are you okay?" I turned to find Edward's concerned eyes on me. "You haven't said a word since Jasper's sister talked about the cheerleaders."

"I'm fine," I lied. He frowned at me, telling me he didn't believe me, and my heart broke a little bit more. Who would I ever find that would know me as well as he did if I lost him? He was the only mind reader I knew.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," I admitted, sighing. I sat down at our lab table and folded my arms on the desk before dropping my chin onto them.

"I don't like her," he said, his voice soft. I blinked in surprise and turned my head to look at him.

"What?"

"I don't like Jasper's sister," he said, shaking his head. "Not as anything more than a friend."

"Jeebus, Edward," I breathed, sitting up straight and staring at him. "Why would you say something like that?" Brilliant deflection. Put the focus on him and not me. Usually it didn't work, because he was way too smart and saw right through my shit - but that didn't mean that I ever stopped trying it. Heh. Yeah, I was that type of person: the kind who liked to throw herself against the wall until she stuck. I was nothing if not persistent.

"It just seemed like you stopped talking right after I complimented her on being smart," he said, his green eyes boring holes through me. At least, that's what it felt like, since he was staring at me so intensely. "So either you're upset about that, or you're upset about whatever she was talking about that had to do with the cheerleaders, and since I know you couldn't care less about the cheerleaders, well… I made an educated guess."

"Why wouldn't you like her like that?" I asked, playing with my pencil. "All the guys in school do." Hell, I thought I even might like her that way!

"I -" His voice died for a minute, and I glanced over at him, doing a double-take when I saw the look on his face. His cheeks looked like they'd caught fire. He exhaled loudly, clicking his teeth together, which was something he only did when he was extremely agitated.

"It's okay," I reassured him, shaking my head. "It's not a big deal."

"I don't like her," he repeated, his color returning to normal as students began to file into the classroom.

"Edward, it's okay, really. I believe you. If you say you don't like her like that, then you don't. I know you wouldn't lie to me." He looked relieved, and he smiled.

"Thanks, Bella."

"It's no problem. We're best friends, right? We get each other." His grin widened, and I smiled back and turned my attention to Mr. Banner as he started teaching. I didn't really pay attention though, because I was too busy wondering why Edward wouldn't just out himself to me. I mean, I was his best friend, and we spent pretty much every waking moment together. Why didn't he trust me? Besides, why was it so important to him that I knew that he had no feelings for Rosalie? This was the second time he'd vehemently denied it. I was starting to get suspicious.

Bio passed uneventfully (you know, except for the part where I obsessed over whether or not he might be crushing on Jasper, which was totally understandable since the boy was almost as pretty as he was), and when it was over we parted ways so I could get changed for P.E. I let the fog of unease thicken, knowing that our teams weren't set and I wouldn't necessarily have Rosalie and Jasper to protect me today.

I was tying my shoelaces when I was aware that someone had sat down next to me. Imagine my surprise when I looked up to see golden colored hair! Rosalie was inspecting her nails again - as if there was anything wrong with them. When she saw me looking, she shrugged.

"So this Emmett guy," she began, as though we were friends, "Is he dumb like sand?"

"I don't really know," I said honestly. Did she really think I socialized with that group? Surely she knew that I didn't, especially after the scene that Jerksica had made at lunch. Right? "I've never really talked to him, and he's a year ahead of us, so I don't have any classes with him."

"Is he an asshole? And be honest, because I'll know if you're not. Your nose twitches when you get nervous."

"What? How would you know that?" I asked defensively, folding my arms over my chest. What did this chick know about me? Nothing, that's what! How dare she!

"Because when I was smiling at your boyfriend earlier, you went all quiet and your nose kept twitching."

"My _boyfriend?_" I asked, incredulous. I'm sure that my eyes were so wide that they were cartoonish by this point. "I know you don't mean Edward."

"Bronze-haired kid, right?"

"Yes," I said cautiously.

"So you're not together yet?"

"Yet?" I echoed.

"Please. Everyone at that table could see that you two are crazy about each other. Everyone but you two, apparently."

"Edward isn't into me," I denied automatically. She arched an eyebrow at me. "What? He's not!"

"Are you fucking with me, or do you actually believe that bullshit?" For such a beautiful girl, she really had a foul mouth. I couldn't decide if it disgusted me or if I loved her candor. "Oh, shit. You really believe that, don't you?"

Before I could answer, I heard the teacher's whistle out in the gym. We both hurried out to my least favorite room in the entire school, and I was surprised when Rosalie walked with me to the bleachers and sat down right next to me. Was I missing something? She could be hanging with the popular crowd, so what in the hell was she doing sitting with _me?_ Not that I was a social leper, but still!

I heard giggling as the boys filed into the gym, and I turned to see where it was coming from. Lauren and Jerksica were laughing and pointing in our direction, and I rolled my eyes before looking away.

"What in the hell is wrong with those bitches?" Rosalie asked, her voice just loud enough to carry to where they were sitting. They tittered again, and Rosalie looked bored. "So Bella, is Edward Cullen a good fuck, or what?" My head whipped around and I gaped at her. The tittering stopped.

"Excuse me?" I hissed, so no one else could hear.

"Just go with it," she hissed back, barely moving her lips. "Trust me." I had definite misgivings about whatever she was doing, since I didn't really know her, but I did it anyway.

"The best," I chirped brightly.

"Too bad he's so into you, or I might want a turn with him." She tossed her hair over her shoulder, and I gritted my teeth together. Over my dead body, Barbie! "Oh, well." I didn't get my chance to ask her what in the hell was going on before we were ordered into our teams again. She wasn't on my team today, but Edward was. Jasper was on his sister's team again, and I wondered vaguely if the teachers had done that on purpose. Unfortunately for me, Lauren and Jerksica were on Rosalie's team, too, and they had flanked her, with one of them on each side. As soon as it was our team's turn, Edward wandered over to me. I kept my eyes focused on Rosalie, whose team we were actually playing against.

"Hey Bella," Edward said, taking his stance next to me. "You look murderous."

"I am," I snapped. He frowned.

"Why? What's going on?"

"I'll tell you later. Just - just don't freak out too much if you hear stuff after P.E., okay?" His eyebrows shot up.

"What kind of stuff?"

"Just stuff."

"About?"

"You."

"More specifically?"

"Can't you let this go? I asked if we could talk about it later." The first death bringer had whizzed harmlessly past my head, but I couldn't see Manwhore Newton letting it go at that. "I'd like to concentrate on not dying and not getting a concussion right now." I ducked, and the ball that Lauren had lobbed at me missed, too.

"Fine, but I'm gonna pump you later." I stared open-mouthed at him. I'm sure my jaw was almost on the floor. Damn it, why did my mind have to jump straight into the gutter?! "Watch out!" He snapped, grabbing my arm and jerking me towards him. I scowled and looked across the gym. Lauren was clapping and laughing, and Jerksica was standing with her hands on her hips, looking furious. Rosalie was sporting a smirk of epic proportions, and Jasper was shaking his head and rolling his eyes. What in the hell was going on?


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

_I never believed it could happen to me_

_Something like this only happens to dumb girls_

_Taking themselves too seriously_

_I was so damn smart_

_I was the one girl_

_Who never believed it could happen to me_

_Something like this only happens to somebody else _

_~ Lucy Woodward, "Dumb Girls"_

I was so going to be grilled after school, it wasn't even funny. I'd run away from Edward as soon as the period was over, without so much as a goodbye, and I hadn't waited for Rosalie to come into the locker room, either. I'd skipped my standard after-P.E. shower and thrown my clothes on before sneaking out of the locker room. I'm sure everyone in the hallway who passed me wondered if I was being chased by demons. Well… Alice _did _sometimes act possessed when it came to boys and fashion. Crap. I was in so much trouble.

I'd forgotten, of course, that I was going to be trapped in a car with Edward, Rosalie, and Alice all the way to Port Angeles after school. Frankly, the thought terrified me. I was suffering from a confusing girl-crush on Rosalie, I had just realized that I was in love with Edward (which was _really_ freaking me out), and I was still more than a little pissed at Alice for just abandoning me for Jasper.

Maybe everyone would just forget about the impromptu trip and leave without me. Oh, I was so desperately hoping for that! I wouldn't even mind my Dad coming to pick me up in the police cruiser from school - something I normally hated. God, are you listening? It's me, Bella. Please, _please_, take it easy on me today and let my friends forget my existence. I swear I will go to church every Sunday and even volunteer at the local soup kitchen. Please?

"Bella! There you are! Are you ready to go?"

I shook my fist at the sky, but resisted the impulse to give God the finger. It might get zapped off by lightning, or something. What? Trust me, stranger things have happened. I turned and tried to force a smile for Alice, but she stopped skipping and stared at me.

"What's wrong with you?"

"How much time do you have?" I blurted. Damn word vomit! I was going to have to invest in a jar of peanut butter, and make sure I had some in my mouth at all times. You can't talk if your tongue is stuck to the roof of your mouth, right? Of course, it would also be extremely difficult to speak if your best friend has his tongue in your mouth, and - Oh, _hell_, no! God must really have it in for me now, because my mind is completely flooded with images of Edward and I… and they're not G-rated, if you get my drift. I can feel my face burning with embarrassment, and I am utterly grateful for the fact that the mind reader himself isn't here at the moment, because I'm sure he would totally be onto me.

Shit! I really have to watch my damned euphemisms! I didn't realize I had such a dirty mind!

"Bella, you can talk to me. I'm your best friend, remember?"

"No, you're the friend that deserted me for her boy-toy," I snapped. She looked stricken, and I was immediately contrite. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I just feel like the last two days you've kind of pushed me to the back burner. I get it, new love and all that crap, but it still hurts. We used to do everything together."

"No," she said softly, her bottom lip trembling slightly. "You and my brother have shut me out for the last few weeks. I feel like an outsider - or I did, until Jasper came. Now I'm okay with you guys spending so much time together without me, since I have someone, too."

"Excuse me?" I asked incredulously. "I have _not_ been ignoring you for Edward!"

"Who are you trying to fool, Bella? Me or yourself?" She demanded. "You and Edward are practically joined at the hip! You guys would probably spend the entire day together if your classes didn't interfere. I know you haven't been purposely excluding me, but you've still been doing it." _Doing it? _I groaned and clutched my head. Stupid dirty mind! She wasn't helping any, either! There was only one conclusion: God hated me.

"What's going on?" Oh Jeebus, this was just getting better and better! Rosalie sauntered up to us and looked from me to Alice, and then back again. Her eyes narrowed. "Are you two fighting?"

"Bella is completely head over heels in love with my brother and is completely in denial about it!" Alice shrieked, gesturing to me.

"Yeah, I know," Rosalie said, her voice perfectly calm. Alice looked at her.

"How do you know?"

"Anyone who looks at them together knows," Rosalie said, shrugging. "So are we going, or what?"

"I'm sorry if I've been ignoring you," I told Alice. My cheeks were so hot, I was sure that everyone within a five mile radius could feel their warmth. "I'll do better."

"I don't want you to stop spending time with my brother," she amended, shaking her head and then leaping on me for a hug that cut off my circulation. "I just want to be with you two more. And Jasper will be with us now, too."

"Hey, Rosie!" Rosalie's eyes widened, and then they narrowed, and her lips mashed into a thin line. Alice and I released each other and exchanged nervous glances. Emmett McCarty was weaving through the parked cars towards us. "Rosie, wait up!"

"I'm not moving, you moron! How can I 'wait up?' And my name's not Rosie, it's _Rosalie!" _She yelled, turning to glare at him. He didn't look the least bit fazed, and jogged the rest of the distance over to us. I could see that we were beginning to draw a crowd - Jerksica and Lauren and the rest of the cheerleaders were standing a little ways away, watching raptly.

"So do you want to go grab a bite to eat, or what?"

"No, you bumbling oaf, I do _not_ want to grab a bite to eat. I told you that not even ten minutes ago! Have the steroids eaten all of your brain cells?"

"Hey, I don't take steroids," he protested, shaking his head. He leaned in a little bit, like he was about to share a secret, and he spoke with a lowered voice. "They make your … _junk_ fall off."

I couldn't help it; I burst into laughter. Alice's giggles joined with mine. Rosalie just stood there, staring at him for a minute before she collected herself.

"Look," she snapped, jabbing his chest with her perfectly manicured fingernail, "I don't know why you're following me, but you can stop. I am _so_ not interested."

"Why not?" He wondered aloud, frowning at her. "Every girl at this school wants me. Every boy at this school wants you. Logic dictates that we belong together."

"Um, hi?" I interrupted, waving my hand. "Not _every_ girl at this school wants you. I'm pretty sure that Alice and I aren't interested." Alice shook her head no. Emmett rolled his eyes.

"You two don't count."

"Why don't they count?" Rosalie demanded.

"They're nobodies. They don't fit in anywhere. You're the cheerleading captain, and I'm the quarterback of the football team. We belong together." I felt my mouth drop open, and watched as Alice's did the same. We were nobodies? _Bite me_, jackass! As far as I was concerned, we were rock stars!

"You just insulted my friends," she snapped, clenching and unclenching her fists. "And you're an asshole to boot. Call me when you get a personality and learn how to think for youself!" She turned her back on him and moved towards us. She looped her left arm around Alice's right arm, and her right arm around my left arm, and led us towards the opposite side of the parking lot. I could hear the gossip beginning already, since the cheerleaders obviously had no volume control when it came to their voices.

"That was amazing," Alice said, grinning at Rosalie.

"I think I love you," I blurted. SHIT! Alice and Rosalie both turned their heads to look at me. Alice giggled and Rosalie arched an eyebrow as she smirked at me.

"I didn't know you swung that way, Bella. Is that why you haven't done anything about Edward yet?"

"I…" I didn't know what to say. My mouth was writing checks my butt couldn't cash. Or some crap like that.

"Hey guys." I felt my humiliation rise to epic proportions. Had he heard what I'd just said? Edward jogged over to us and leaned over, resting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "What happened back there? Emmett McCarty is practically bawling."

Rosalie looked smug, and Alice giggled. "Rosalie basically told him where to go and how to get there."

"Did you draw him a map, too?" Edward asked, laughing. "With lots of pretty pictures? Because he'll need it." I laughed, and he grinned at me. I'd been thinking the same thing. I told you he had crazy mind-reading skillz.

"It's a shame that he's so stupid," Rosalie said, sighing. She turned and glanced once in his direction, then shrugged as she turned back to us. "He's actually pretty cute. You know, for someone who's head is full of sand. So, where is it that we're going, again? And where is my brother?"

"Jasper's going home to help your dad work on some home improvement project," Alice said, waving her hand dismissively. "He's going to try and get away later if he can, and maybe meet us for dinner. The salon is fantastic - wait until you see it! And Irina is the only manicurist I go to anymore." Alice held her hand up and waggled her nails in front of Rosalie's face.

"That's really beautiful," Rosalie said, grabbing Alice's hand and steadying it to get a good look. "The last manicurist I went to and got acrylics from wound up giving me an infection in the nail on my ring finger."

"Ouch!" Alice gasped, wincing. "That sucks!" Edward and I exchanged eye-rolls. I refused to let anyone come near my nail beds with those little cuticle scissors. I'm sorry, but skin is skin, right? And who wants skin cut _off_ with metal implements (unless you're Freddy Kreuger)? Yuck!

"So," Edward said, straightening up. Alice and Rosalie nattered to each other as they walked ahead of us. He bumped his shoulder against mine. "Feeling better?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, pretending that I didn't know what he was talking about as I fished through my backpack for something - anything - that contained sugar. I was refusing to meet his eyes, feigning ignorance, _and_ searching for a sugary snack. I am a brilliant multi-tasker, what can I say?

"Whatever was making you weird earlier, are you over it?" he clarified. I shrugged and gave up my search, since my backpack was so messy, the effort was completely futile. You know, kind of like the effort it takes to ignore a very pretty, very insistent boy walking next to you and almost-but-not-quite touching your arm with his. Crap. "Bella, resistance is futile, you know that." My head whipped around and I stopped and stared at him. Seriously, how did he _do_ that shit?

"What?" I breathed, my heart beating so hard it felt as though I'd just run a marathon.

"Resisting me is pointless," he repeated, his grin wide. I'm sure I looked like a fish out of water; I could feel my mouth open but couldn't seem to force myself to shut it. "You know you're going to tell me what was wrong." OH. My heart started beating normally again, and I took a deep breath and shook my head.

"I really don't want to talk about it - and believe me, you don't want to hear it."

"Of course I do. I'm interested in everything concerning you. We're buddies, remember?" Buddies. Oh, how I loathed that word right now. Suddenly I wished I was as brave as Rosalie, who seemed to have no trouble expressing herself. I'd love to take Edward's face between my hands and plant a big, wet kiss on those perfectly sculpted gay lips. I snickered a little to myself at the thought of the look he'd have on his face. "Bella?" I turned to find the object of my fantasy frowning at me.

"Hm?"

"Are you sure you're all right? Are you taking some new medication that you haven't told me about?" I rolled my eyes and snorted, and he shook his head.

"Are you two coming with us, or what?" Alice called from her car. I sighed. Rosalie was already sitting shotgun. It figured. Edward and I exchanged a knowing eye roll and climbed into the back of Alice's car - a yellow Porsche that their parents had given her for her sweet sixteen. I personally thought it was interesting that her parents chose yellow, and frequently pointed this fact out to Edward, who in turn told me that his mother chose it because it stood out. Alice kept insisting that she was going to have it painted hot pink, but she hadn't done it yet.

All the way to Port Angeles, Rosalie entertained us with stories about Lauren and Jerksica, which took the pressure off of everyone else - namely, me. I loved Edward both as a friend and more, and now I was starting to feel unsure how to act around him. Normally if I liked a guy, I would attempt to dress up a little bit more than was usual for me, have Alice help me with my hair, and wear lip gloss to draw his eyes to my mouth (hey, it's a known fact that guys think about sex about once every fifteen seconds, or something. Look it up) - but I couldn't do that stuff with _Edward_. He knew me too well.

So now the question became: what should I do? Should I tell him how I felt, and risk almost certain rejection? Or should I take it to my grave? I was going to be miserable as soon as he started parading his boy toys around me… although honestly it would hurt less to be rejected for a guy than it would be for another girl. Don't ask me why, it was just my warped way of thinking, I guess.

"Bella!" I snapped back into the present and turned to look at Edward.

"What?"

"Have you been asleep with your eyes open this whole time? We're here." He pointed out the window, and I turned to look, surprised to find that we were parked in front of the salon. Oh, ye gods, this was going to suck. I exhaled in a puff of air and got out of the car. "Jeebus, Bella, you look like someone just told you your dog died," he said, laughing. I shot a glare at him.

"When you have to have every hair on your body waxed, plucked, dyed, or cut, then you let me know, okay? It's not exactly the most pleasant feeling in the world." He arched an eyebrow at me, and I narrowed my eyes. "What?"

"What do you get waxed?" He asked, sounding far more interested than he should. I felt my face heating up, and then watched as his cheeks turned red. "Nevermind."

"Come _on_, Bella!" Alice shrieked, grabbing my hand and pulling me inside. Before I could protest too vociferously, I was shoved into a chair and my highlights were being retouched. I didn't see Edward anywhere in the salon - he was probably across the street at Starbucks, which is where I desperately wanted to be at the moment. Seriously, I would have sold a kidney, or something. Alice was sitting in the chair on my left, and Rosalie was in the chair to my right, and they were chattering over me. I didn't even have my iPod with me to block their babbling out. I was so going to make Alice pay for this.

"So how are things with you and my brother?" Rosalie called over me. I sighed. I hated this crap. Getting all googly-eyed over boys was just _not_ my thing. I mean, sure, I liked to be kept in the know when it came to Alice's relationships, but I didn't need to know anything other than the guy's name. Her crushes were so numerous and over so quickly, it just didn't pay to learn all about the guy, because I knew that in five minutes, he'd be replaced with someone new anyway. I must have sort of zoned out for a while, because the next thing I heard wasn't about Alice _or_ her new boy-toy.

"…and they actually said that?" Alice asked, her voice full of surprise. Seriously, I was going to fall asleep, here. I don't really do gossip, which has always chagrined Alice.

"Yes," Rosalie confirmed, nodding her head once - which I don't think her stylist appreciated, since she sighed loudly. Rosalie ignored her.

"About Edward?" I perked up a little, and sat up a little straighter in my seat. What had I missed?

"Who said what about Edward?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant. Apparently it didn't work, because both girls gave me a look that said 'where the hell have you been for the last twenty minutes?'

"Didn't you hear a word Rose has said?" Alice demanded, frowning. I shook my head.

"You know how I zone out," I whined, wincing when my stylist tugged a little too sharply on a strand of hair she was painting the color on. Alice rolled her eyes and Rosalie sniggered.

"I was just explaining to Alice how Lauren and Jessica have the hots for her brother." I stared at her. I felt my mouth drop open and my eyes widening to epic proportions, but I couldn't help it. Those two hooker-faces wanted _my_ Edward? I'd die first. I'd rip their hair out and feed it to them before they could touch him. I'd gank 'em and throw 'em in the river before they came within a hundred feet of him. I'd-

"BELLA!" I jumped a little as they yelled my name together. I could feel my face turning red (it always felt sunburnt when that happened).

"Jeebus, did you have to yell like that?" I asked, trying to sound angry so they wouldn't know how upset I really was.

"I thought you were going to pass out," Alice remarked, sitting back in her chair. Her stylist had already finished with the highlights, and she was waiting until the chemicals were finished working their magic on her roots. "You went white all of a sudden."

"Anyway," Rosalie continued, waving a hand dismissively. "I had been at school all of twenty minutes before they started to give me a run-down on all of the hottest eligible boys in the school, Junior and Senior class only, of course."

"It is categorically unacceptable to date a younger man," Alice said, nodding wisely. I rolled my eyes.

"Really? What about Jimmy Perkins last year? You were a Sophomore and he was a Freshman."

"I didn't know that when he asked me out!" She shrieked. "He was a transfer student and asked me to go out the day he started school!"

"_Anyway_," Rosalie snapped. We both turned to look at her. "They listed off that stupid jock McDonald, or whatever his name is-"

"Emmett McCarty," Alice supplied helpfully. The look Rosalie shot her could have melted ice, but Alice didn't seem to notice.

"And your brother was second only to him."

"Seriously? Since when did Edward get catapulted to the top of the social heap? And if he's so desirable, why isn't he more popular?" Rosalie glanced at me once quickly, and then looked back at Alice, who blinked. "Oh.""Oh? Oh what?" I asked, my eyes darting between them. "What aren't you saying, here?"

"Lauren and Jessica basically said that Edward wasn't more popular because of the people he hangs out with," Alice offered, not meeting my eyes. Rosalie sighed.

"What?" I asked, frowning.

"What Alice is trying to say in a nice way is that he's not popular because he's friends with you."

I let that sink in for a minute. Did I want Edward to be popular? More importantly, did _Edward_ want to be popular? He would probably stop speaking to me if he became part of the in crowd. The thought made me feel light-headed, and not in a good way.

But didn't Lauren and Jerksica know that Edward was gay?

I realized I must have asked the question out loud when Alice and Rosalie shrieked at the same time.

"Edward is WHAT?"

"He's not gay!"

"I'm afraid so, girls," I said, my voice sounding steadier than I felt at the moment. "Think about it. He's never had a girlfriend, he cares about the way he looks, he's sweet and sensitive, caring and thoughtful, and he's entirely too pretty to be straight."

"She's got a point," Rosalie said with a thoughtful frown. "A couple of them, actually. But I don't think he's gay. I've seen the way he looks at you."

"He looks at me like a best friend and nothing else," I protested. "I don't even register as a girl to him."

"Are you kidding me?" Alice asked, her face still red from my accusation. "Edward is completely head over heels for you! He's not gay!"

"I think you're wrong."

"I think we need to prove it to Bella that Edward is straight. It's the only way she'll believe the truth," Rosalie said finally.

"What do you suggest? Should we find Edward a girlfriend?"

"Why bother, when the work is already done for us? She's sitting right there. Now we just have to get her to dress up and get him so hot and bothered that he feels like he _has_ to make a move on her, or he'll die."

"Hello, I'm sitting right here," I interjected. I was completely baffled. What was dressing me up going to prove, other than the fact that I couldn't even _sit_ in heels, let alone walk in them?

"That is such a good idea!" Alice squealed, clapping her hands together. "And since we're already here, we can go shopping for her. Ooh, I _love_ a good makeover!"

"Why do I need to be made over?"

"Are you seriously this clueless?" Rosalie asked. She stared hard at me for a minute and then shook her head. "Okay, well, buckle up, Cinder-Bella. You're in for one hell of a ride." She motioned to Alice's stylist, who came running over to us, and then she pointed a manicured nail at me. "She's going to need her eyebrows waxed, she needs a mani-pedi, and she needs her legs and bikini area waxed as well."

"No way!" I shrieked. "I'm not waxing my hoo hoo!" Alice snickered and the scant other few customers inside the salon tittered with laughter as well.

"You want to know once and for all whether or not you have a shot with your best friend?" I hesitated. Oh, God, that millisecond of hesitation cost me, too. "That's what I thought. Now let's get down to business."

"Rosalie," I muttered angrily. She turned to look at me. "I do _not_ love you anymore."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_**Why try to be like someone else**_

_**When you can only be yourself?**_

_**No one can sing the song you do**_

_**Be true, be legendary you**_

_**So I won't sell out,**_

_**Even if the whole world thinks I'm crazy**_

_**Why kiss the feet of the people who kick you**_

_**When you can be anything that you want to?**_

_**-"Hey Hey" by Superchick**_

OH MY GAWD.

I had never been in so much freaking pain in my entire life. Alice and Rosalie were SO dead. I was going to sneak into their rooms in the middle of the night and shave their heads. Or punch them in the face. Or both. Several times. Violently.

I ached in places that no girl should _ever_ ache - at least, not in a bad way, which is how I was aching now. Oh, did I forget to mention that I'm going to _kill_ Alice and Rosalie?

"You are _such_ a baby," Alice sighed, rolling her eyes at me - the eyes I was going to turn black in a minute.

"It could have been worse," Rosalie the soon-to-be-murdered told me.

"How?" I demanded, limping towards the exit of the salon as fast as I could, being as wounded as I was. "How could it _possibly _be worse than this?" I gestured towards my injured hoo hoo, and shot her what I hoped was a murderous glare. Because I was definitely going to murder her. Stupid blonde haired witch, I'd bet she just came to Forks _looking_ for an innocent girl like me to injure. Well, she'd done her job, but I was gonna make her pay, by Jeebus.

"We could have asked Tanya to wax _all_ of the hair down there," Alice said. I shivered violently at the mention of that evil woman's name.

"Don't say her name ever again!" I snapped, watching the girls rummage in their purses. I folded my arms across my chest. I'd be damned if they were going to make ME pay for the pain they'd forced upon me! As far as I was concerned, I was never stepping foot in this house of torture again. EVER.

"Bella would like to go ahead and schedule her next appointment," Rosalie told the cashier calmly. I narrowed my eyes and shot her the 'you're-going-to-die-before-you're-seventeen' look, because during my torture I'd heard her and Alice discussing how her birthday was in two days. Stupid blonde, had the bleach seeped into her brain?

"Like hell I would," I snarled. Alice rolled her eyes and Rosalie ignored me.

"You're going to have to come back every four to six weeks to touch up the waxing. Don't worry, once you've done it a few times, it will hardly hurt at all." I stared at her in complete astonishment.

"Women do this to themselves more than once? _Voluntarily?_" I couldn't fathom it. Some people were just gluttons for punishment, I guess.

"Sure," Rosalie affirmed, putting her change purse back into her purse and turning to me. "Men like to touch smooth skin, and it's nice to be well-groomed."

I wanted to tell blonde bitch Barbie to shut up, but I clamped my lips together and glared at her. She laughed, which furthered my affirmation that she was aptly named.

"Don't worry about her," Alice said, linking her arm through Rosalie's like the traitor she was, "When Edward sees her, she'll want to do it every week."

"Eat shit and die, Tinkerbell," I snarled, pushing my way out of the salon and ignoring the laughter behind me. I was halfway down the block before I realized that the girls were right behind me, keeping up with me even though I was practically running. Too late I realized my mistake - I had been heading straight towards a high-priced boutique that Alice frequented every time we came to Port Angeles. Damn it! My feet had betrayed me! I felt even more humiliated when Alice grabbed one arm, Bitch Barbie grabbed the other, and they both dragged me inside.

Ninety minutes and about a jillion dresses later, I was too exhausted to fight with them anymore. My hoo hoo ached, my jeans and panties (Alice called them 'granny panties' - whatever) were chafing my newly waxed (read: really freaking sensitive) skin, and I was dying for an iced coffee from Starbucks. More than anything, though, I was dying for the relief that Edward's company provided. _He_ would never subject me to this kind of torture. He'd bend over backwards to do whatever it took to make me happy and comfortable, the way he almost always did. Oh Edward, why did you desert me? Why did you leave me alone with Barbie and Tinkerbell?

If I hadn't been so tired and sore, they never would have convinced me to leave that stupid frilly girl crap store wearing a turquoise fitted tank top and white knee-length eyelet skirt, not to mention the highly unnecessary (but, I hated to admit, really soft) bikini underwear. How could Alice do that to me, anyway? I wondered, as I stared at the gold gladiator sandals I was now walking in. She knew how accident prone I was! Hello, did she not remember the Zac whatever-his-last-name-is-dress-that-I-ruined-of-hers?

Although I had to admit, it _was_ nice to be out of those heavy, chafing jeans. My hoo hoo was thanking me profusely right now. Stupid Alice had probably planned that, and I was even angrier at her for it.

"Don't worry, Bella, just one more stop, and we'll take you to my brother," Alice the Evil One cooed. Oh, false promises, how you have betrayed me before! What else could they possibly do to me? Dare I ask?

My hopes that I had been through the wringer already were dashed when they pulled me into a cosmetics shop. I would have kicked and screamed, if I'd had any energy left. Didn't these people know that I subsisted on ketchup and coffee? They hadn't let me have either in hours. Oh, the absolute cruelty! They were downright abusive. This whole afternoon had proved that.

I sat atop a very uncomfortable, under padded stool and let some strange chick cover my face in what felt like rubber cement. I ignored Tinkerbell and Barbie and retreated into my own head, trying to pretend that I _wasn't _worried about my best friend, and what he was going to think of all of this. He wasn't going to recognize me, which I wasn't so sure was a good thing - even though the Wonder Twits (who were going to die, by the way - don't think I'd forgotten) seemed convinced that he was going to be salivating as soon as he saw me.

When it was all over, they were both bogged down with shopping bags - not only for me, but for themselves (but mostly for me, the evil so-and-so's). I laughed inwardly - mwaha! Yeah, you waxed/plucked/dressed/made me up within an inch of my life, but YOU have end up having to carry all of the stinking bags! Haha, beeeeeyotches!

"Come on, Bella," Tinkerbell pleaded with me, as we walked back towards Heaven - I mean, Starbucks. SUGAR… need… sugar… NOW…

"Oh, let her pout," Barbie said, sighing. "If she wants to be a baby, let her. She'll be fine soon enough." She glanced down at her watch, and then back up at Alice, mild concern on her face. "Are you sure your brother is still going to be at Starbucks?"

"He'd wait there an eternity if it meant seeing Bella," Alice grumbled. Rosalie snorted with laughter.

"You are both dead to me," I informed them haughtily, ignoring their laughter as I shoved open the door to Starbucks with a little more force than was necessary. My eyes scanned the small bistro tables until they found his unruly bronze hair, and instantly I felt better. No matter what the evil Bobbsey twins had subjected me to, I just knew Edward would make everything all right. He always did. I made my way over to his table and threw myself down in the seat across from him with utter relief.

"You have _no_ idea what I've just been put through," I began, sighing. "I have been waxed, plucked, coiffed, dressed, and made up within an inch of my life." He hadn't said anything, so I kept talking, hoping that he wasn't too put off by my makeover. "I don't even feel like _me_ anymore. So please tell me that I don't look completely horrid, and that you're going to buy me something highly caffeinated and with lots of sugar to make me feel normal again."

"Uh." He pushed a venti-sized cup towards me, and I sighed in relief as I tasted the sugary, caffeinated goodness of a black cherry mocha with whipped cream. It was cold, but at this point, I'd take it. It was heaven, as far as I was concerned. I had downed half of it before I realized that Edward was staring at me and not speaking.

"Are you okay?" I asked, frowning. Usually whenever Alice and I had been to the salon, Edward had a ton of snarky comments for me. I took a closer look at him. His eyes were wide and his jaw was slack - not a good sign. I could feel my eyes filling with tears - if this makeover made him awkward around me, Alice really _was_ going to be in trouble. "Say something, please. You know this isn't me, I didn't ask for them to do any of this to me. You should hear the things they subjected me-"

"You're gorgeous," he said, his voice breathy. Okay, that wasn't the reaction I'd been expecting… but it was good, right? But wait - did that mean I'd been hideous before they'd done all this to me? I frowned. "Not that you're not always pretty, but-"

"Whatever," I said, waving my hand dismissively. I really didn't want to do this; overanalyze everything he said to me. What was the point? He was my best friend and I was happy to be with him, especially since it meant that I was finished with the unwanted attention I'd received from the girls. And I was so tired! I hadn't even really done anything, but I was spent emotionally and just couldn't wait to get home and crawl into my bed and forget that this day had ever even happened. I sucked down the rest of the mocha and turned to look at the menu board, even though I basically had it memorized.

"Hey, guys," Alice said, approaching our table. I pointedly ignored her, and she pointedly ignored my pointed ignoring of her. "Jasper is on his way here to pick me up for dinner at his place, and Rosalie's going to catch a ride with us. Can one of you drive my car home? Thanks!" She tossed her keys on the table and began walking away without waiting for an answer, and I glared at her retreating back. Stupid meddling pixie!

"That was… sudden," Edward remarked, blinking at the keys that Alice had left. I sighed, and he frowned. "What?"

"Alice and Rosalie just might be the most evil duo the world has ever known," I explained, standing up. I stretched and looked at him. "Do you want a latte? I'm going to get something else." He cleared his throat and shook his head.

"No, I already had two while I was waiting for you."

"Edward," I whined, rolling my eyes. "It's not going to kill you. Jeebus, there's not even sugar in it to make you break out!"

"You can buy me a water if you feel the need," he said. I exhaled noisily and went to the counter, and when I returned to the table I was carrying his water, my venti mocha (with an extra shot of espresso), and a ginormous slice of chocolate cheesecake. I sat everything on the table and sat down, ready to dig into the extremely sugary feast I had purchased, but before I could take my first bite, something compelled me to look up. Edward seemed to be eyeing my cheesecake pretty hungrily.

"Do you want a bite?" I asked. His eyes darted up to mine, and his cheeks turned a bright red.

"Excuse me?"

"You were eyeing my cheesecake," I pointed out. His lips twitched. "Do you want a bite? You haven't had sugar in a while, and one bite won't kill you. Will you have to go puke in the bathroom if you eat some? Like, purge or binge, or whatever?"

"Bella," he began, shaking his head. Suddenly he grinned broadly. "You know what? I would absolutely _love_ a bite of your cheesecake. Thanks for offering." I arched an eyebrow at him - he was acting weird, don't think I wasn't about to call him on it - and scooped up some of the heavenly confection with my fork. I held it out to him, and his eyes widened. "You're going to feed it to me?"

"Duh," I snarked, wiggling the fork just a little bit. "It's _my_ cheesecake, and you know I'm not into sharing my things. I know how this will go: the ex-sugar addict will get a taste of my goods, and keep stealing them. You can't do that if I hold onto the fork." He just stared at me for a few seconds, and then grinned again before closing his mouth around the fork. His eyes slipped shut and I could swear I heard him moan - a sound that shot straight through me and made the tiny little hairs on the back of my neck stand straight at attention (which is a good thing). "Um. Right, then," I forced out, tugging my eyes away from his beautiful, godlike (but totally gay) face, and focusing back on my plate full of sugary goodness.

"So," he began. I made the mistake of looking up, and caught him licking the crumbs off of his lips. Had someone turned up the thermostat? I glanced around, looking for someone in a green apron. It was so hot in here… "What evil did my sister subject you to this time?"

"I really don't even…" I stopped myself. This was my (gay) best friend, and I had no one else to gripe to. I sure as hell wasn't going to tell my parents about this because they would either: a) kill Alice, or b) agree with her and force me to do the upkeep on the newly hairless parts of my body. So if I couldn't talk to my (gay) best friend, who else was I going to talk to? I dropped my fork to the plate with a loud clatter, which looked like it startled Edward, because suddenly he had on his (gay) deer in the headlights look. Who else would willingly listen to me whine, if not Edward? "They _were_ only going to make me touch up my highlights, but then they made the stylist trim my hair, they waxed my eyebrows, bleached the hair on my upper lip - I didn't even know I _had_ hair on my upper lip - waxed my legs, waxed my bikini area - and hey, why do I even need to have that area waxed anyway? I don't have a boyfriend and it's not bathing suit weather, so-"

"Geez, take a breath, Bella," he interjected, laughing. His cheeks were a pretty shade of pink… maybe I had embarrassed him by talking about my girly parts. I frowned and shoved a huge bite of cheesecake in my mouth. "And then I'm guessing they played Barbie some more and dressed you up and did your makeup?" I nodded. Yeah, he was definitely gay - what other guy would even notice that I had makeup on? Oh, crap - I hadn't looked at my face before I'd walked out of that hellhole, what if I looked like a clown?

"I need to go to the bathroom!" I declared, jumping out of my chair. He looked startled for a second, and then reached out and grabbed my arm, pushing me back down into the chair.

"What the hell, Bella?" He asked, frowning. I leaned conspiratorially across the table, and he mimicked my actions.

"Tell me the truth: did they make me look like a clown? Do I have red circles on my cheeks? Do I have on Mimi-esque eye shadow?"

"Mimi?" he echoed.

"You know, the chick from the Drew Carey show with the bright blue seventies eyeshadow up to here," I said, motioning to my eyebrows. He snorted and shook his head.

"Silly rabbit." I relaxed. That was normal - that was familiar banter, and it made me feel so much better. "Don't you remember me telling you not even ten minutes ago that you are gorgeous? Would I have said that if you were made up to look like Bobo the clown?"

"Thanks, Edward," I sighed, picking up my fork again. I didn't eat with it, though; I just used it to make pretty crisscross patterns on top of the cheesecake.

"You're really upset about this, aren't you?" He asked, his brow creasing with worry.

"Nah. The cheesecake just doesn't sound good to me anymore. I think I'd rather have a nice, crisp green salad."

"Excuse me?" He stared at me, his mouth open, until I chopped off a humongous piece of the confection and shoved it into my mouth - then he laughed. He laughed so loudly, in fact, that he attracted the attention of both of the other couples that were currently in the room with us. I opened my mouth and showed him the half-chewed bite inside, and he laughed so hard that he started to turn blue because he couldn't breathe.

"Waaa?" I asked, my word unintelligible due to the massive amount of chocolate and cream cheese that was currently on my tongue.

"I was so afraid that once you _knew _you were pretty, you'd be different." Uhm, wait a minute- what?

"I don't follow."

"Well…" He cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest - which usually meant he was in serious business mode. That was the pose he used when he argued with his parents, or with me (over academics - you know, the _important_ stuff). "You've always been pretty, but I don't think you've understood that you are. You always dress down to hide how you look - the tennis shoes, the baggy shirts, the loose fitting jeans. It's always seemed to me like you didn't want people to notice you." I stared at him. After a few minutes, I closed my mouth and felt my temper rising.

"So, what? Do you think I don't want a boyfriend? You think I've always enjoyed people making fun of me, and just assuming that I'm cute little Alice's dyke boyfriend? Just because people don't want me like they want you doesn't mean-"

"People want me?" He echoed, arching an eyebrow. Oh, crap. I'd stepped in it now - I was a horrible liar, so I _had_ to tell him. I sighed loudly.

"Apparently you are only second to Emmett McCarty on the desirability list at school."

"Desirable to whom, exactly?" He asked, leaning forward and definitely looking _way_ interested. I felt my heart plummet, and I focused my eyes on the table's surface.

"Lauren and Jerksica. Rosalie said they told her yesterday that you were number two on their "must-do" list, and that the only reason you're not at the top of the social ladder is because you're friends with me." I lifted my eyes and looked at him to gauge his reaction. He wasn't smiling like I thought he would be - instead, he looked pretty mad.

"They actually _said_ that? Out loud?"

"Apparently."

"Idiots. Jeebus, they're even dumber than I had them pegged for." I perked up a little bit at this.

"So does that mean that you're not going to dump me in favor of their company and absolute popularity?"

He laughed.

"If it meant not being friends with you, Bella, of course I wouldn't do it. I'm a little worried that tomorrow you're going to forget _my name, though."_

"_Why?"_

"_Once the guys start falling all over you, you'll forget all about me."_

"_It'll never happen." _

"_Well, you look fantastic. Oh, and Bella? I love your shoes." My heart fell right into the aforementioned garment - I'd forgotten how very gay he was._

_We stayed at Starbucks until I'd finished my coffee and cheesecake… and yet another coffee… And then Edward bought me one to go, and he drove me home. Our conversation on the ride home was inane at best, but he seemed to be comfortable with it. He dropped me off at my house and said goodbye like he always did, and I trudged slowly up the driveway, feeling more confused than I ever had before. Edward thought I was pretty, but obviously I wasn't pretty enough that any guys had taken interest in me. Edward liked my shoes, and he loved my makeover. If I hadn't been convinced that he was gay before, I sure as hell was now._

_I turned on the stereo that sat on my dresser and then flopped down on my bed. I was instantly soothed by the voice of the female disc jockey that was speaking, and I sighed. Every night starting around seven thirty, the local radio station ran a nationally syndicated show where people would call in and dedicate songs to special people in their lives. And then suddenly it hit me - why not call and dedicate a song to Edward? I didn't know if he actually listened to this station anymore; at one point, he and I had listened to it together and mocked the callers - but then again, I had no intentions of revealing my name. The only way he'd know it was me was if he recognized the words to the song and connected the two._

_I dialed the number and was surprised when the DJ answered immediately, since her voice was still playing on the radio._

"_Thanks for calling the Alexandra Show, you're on the air with Alexandra."_

"_Um…" I swallowed hard. I hadn't expected my voice to go out across the airwaves. The only thing I could do was pretend that I was suffering from laryngitis and whisper. "I'd like to dedicate a song to someone."_

"_Is this a special someone?"_

"_Yes, very special."_

"_Okay, sweetie. What song am I playing?"_

"_Best Friend by Weezer."_

"_And who shall I say it's from?"_

"_Just say from… from the one who loves you, baby."_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_**If it takes my whole life**_

_**I won't break, I won't bend**_

_**It will all be worth it**_

_**Worth it in the end**_

_**Cause I can only tell you what I know**_

_**That I need you in my life**_

_**When the stars have all gone out**_

_**You'll still be burning so bright **_

_**- Sarah McLachlan, "Answer"**_

_Instant messages intercepted between Bella Swan & Co._

**Clln620: **_you there?_

**SllyRbbt913:** _yea what's up_

**Clln620: **_did you listen to the radio tonight?_

**SllyRbbt913:** _what?_

**Clln620: **_the radio, did you listen to it? Don't you listen to that Alexandra show every night?_

**SllyRbbt913:** _uh, no - why_

**Clln620: **_there was some weird whispery person on there tonight_

**SllyRbbt913:** _and what does this have to do with me?_

**Clln620: **_nothing, Bella, Jeebus_

**SllyRbbt913:** _wth? Why did you ask then? _

**Clln620: **_just wondered if you heard it, it kinda made me sad_

**SllyRbbt913:** _?_

**Clln620: **_I felt bad for him… or her_

**SllyRbbt913:** _don't understand where this is going, nerdward_

**Clln620: **_just forget it. Is your dad sleeping?_

**SllyRbbt913:** _both parents are out… thank Jeebus, was forced to listen to their "amorous activities" tonight again… this definitely constitutes child abuse. Call cps for me_

**Clln620: **_wow, 4 nights in a row, is it a new record or something?_

**SllyRbbt913:** _look, I know enough biology to know they had to do the nasty at least once to conceive me, but past that, I don't need to know. I'd prefer not to, actually_

**Clln620: **_LOL_

**SllyRbbt913:** _laugh it up buddy, just wait until you walk in on your parents totally in the buff doing the nasty on the table where you eat breakfast, then we'll see who's laughing_

**Clln620: **_that was three years ago, can't you let it go?_

**SllyRbbt913:** _I so wish I could. That's an image that has burned itself onto my poor impressionable young mind and constantly pops up at the worst times to damage my psyche even further_

**Clln620: **_you're crazy_

**SllyRbbt913:** _did this conversation have a point, or did you just IM me to razz me about my hippie free-love practicing parents?_

**Clln620: **_free love? You really are funny sometimes_

**SllyRbbt913:** _why are you online? Doesn't your mom have that net nanny software installed on all the computers in your house? She's gonna see the phrase "doing the nasty" a lot tonight and wonder what exactly you and I are doing…_

**Clln620: **_she knows you don't think of me like that, and besides she knows your parents_

**SllyRbbt913:** _oh yeah… you know it's really embarrassing that everyone in this stupid town knows that my parents are nymphos_

**Clln620: **_now you're just typing words to try and get me into trouble on purpose!_

**SllyRbbt913:** _I am prone to doing those kinds of things. That's why you love me though._

**Clln620: **_Not the only reason_

**SllyRbbt913:** _whatever. So what are you doing? Cuz I know you're not doing homework_

**Clln620: **_I am trying to ignore Ali, who's been talking about "Jazzy" all night_

**SllyRbbt913:** _disgusting_

**Clln620: **_I know right_

**SllyRbbt913:** _so are you totally gonna tap Lauren and Jerksica?_

**SllyRbbt913:** _are you there?_

**SllyRbbt913:** _hello?_

**Clln620: **_sry, had to clean up computer… spit water all over monitor_

**Clln620: **_you know, sometimes you are so ridiculous. "tap that?" Bella really_

**SllyRbbt913:** _how am I supposed to know? For all I know you could be totally into the idea of getting some former head cheerleader booty_

**Clln620: **_I'm going to throw up if you keep on talking like that. Who knows where those girls have been, or what diseases are festering in any of their orifices?_

**SllyRbbt913:** _my turn to puke, grossward_

**FnkyFshnst318:** _BUSTED BELLA_

**SllyRbbt913:** _what are you babbling about? And what computer are you on? Ur brother is on too_

**FnkyFshnst318:** _don't change the subject, you are soooooooo freaking busted girl_

**SllyRbbt913:** _what did I supposedly do now?_

**FnkyFshnst318: **_oh there's no supposedly about it, I heard it_

**SllyRbbt913:** _what?_

**FnkyFshnst318:** _your dedication on Alexandra_

**SllyRbbt913:** _what the hell? Since when does anyone ever listen to that stupid show but me?_

**FnkyFshnst318:** _then you admit it! Ahahahah I am SOOOO telling my brother_

**SllyRbbt913:** _All I admit is that I admit nothing. Wait a minute, why am I even talking to you? You're dead to me. My hoo hoo sends evil regards your way_

**FnkyFshnst318: **_you love my brother! You love my brother! Bella and Edward sitting in a tree…_

**SllyRbbt913:** _finish that line and I'll kill you until you die from it_

**Clln620: **_still there?_

**SllyRbbt913:** _yes, just chatting with ali in another window_

**Clln620: **_what computer is she on? Dad's office has the only other working computer right now, and she's not supposed to be in there…_

**SllyRbbt913: **_why are you asking me? I'm not there!_

**Clln620: **_brb_

**SllyRbbt913: **_just so you know, tattleward is on his way to rat you out to the fuzz_

**FnkyFshnst318: **_rat fink! Gotta go ttyt_

**SllyRbbt913: **_yeah yeah_

**Clln620: **_okay back_

**SllyRbbt913:** _did you catch her?_

**Clln620: **_nah you warned her too fast. She's little, it's harder to catch her_

**SllyRbbt913:** _plus she totally has your dad wrapped around her pinky_

**Clln620: **_yeah that helps too_

**SllyRbbt913:** _if you'd let your mom make your lunch for you every now and then, you could totally be a momma's boy_

**Clln620: **_shut up, I'm going to puke again._

**SllyRbbt913:** _at the thought of being a momma's boy, or at the thought of someone else touching your food?_

**Clln620: **_touching my food - gross_

**SllyRbbt913:** _so you're not gonna tap some nasty cheerleader ass?_

**Clln620: **_BELLA you are so disgusting_

**SllyRbbt913:** _why, just because they carry more diseases than pigeons?_

**Clln620: **_basically, but that's just the tip of the iceberg_

**SllyRbbt913:** _don't get all titanic on me okay_

**Clln620: **_I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD_

**SllyRbbt913:** _you did not just go there, I am logging off_

**Clln620: **_don't go_

**SllyRbbt913:** _okay I won't, but only because you're my coffee bitch_

**Clln620: **_nice, you only love me because I bring you coffee_

**SllyRbbt913:** _pretty much _

**Clln620: **_brat_

**SllyRbbt913: **_don't I know it_

**Clln620: **_so are you going to the dance Friday night?_

**SllyRbbt913:** _when have you ever known me to willingly attend a school sanctioned function, let alone one where coordination is a definite must?_

**SllyRbbt913:** _wait, why? Are you actually going?_

**Clln620: **_I was considering it before you shot me down_

**SllyRbbt913:** _shot you down?_

**Clln620: **_I was going to ask you to go with me_

**SllyRbbt913:** _…_

**Clln620: **_what?_

**SllyRbbt913:** _won't that… make things difficult for you?_

**Clln620: **_not sure what you mean, explain_

**SllyRbbt913:** _it will make people think we're "together"_

**Clln620: **_So? People already think we're "together"_

**SllyRbbt913:** _they do? Who thinks that?_

**Clln620: **_lauren, Jessica, ben, angela, mike, eric, my mom_

**SllyRbbt913:** _okay: idiot, moron, wrong, wronger, thinks with his penis, creepy, and aww in that order_

**Clln620: **_aww?_

**SllyRbbt913:** _your mom is just cute no matter what. If I pretend to be your girlfriend, will she feed me more?_

**Clln620: **_I'm sure, she's already planning on catering our wedding_

**Clln620: **_hello?_

**Clln620: **_Bella?_

**SllyRbbt913:** _sry, was my turn to do a spit-take - only Mountain Dew takes a while longer to clean up than water or it'll get all sticky_

**SllyRbbt913:** _our WEDDING? Really, Edward?_

**Clln620: **_you know how parents are, we've been best friends forever and spend all of our time together, someone was bound to make the leap into planning our supposed future sometime_

**SllyRbbt913:** _my parents didn't make that leap_

**Clln620: **_well it's because they're too busy humping like bunnies_

**SllyRbbt913:** _okay jerkward you have now ruined cute fuzzy bunnies for me, I will throw up the very next time I have the misfortune to see one, and I hope and pray you are next to me in that very moment so the barf will go straight into your lap_

**Clln620: **_funny girl_

**SllyRbbt913:** _I am SO not joking and you know it_

**Clln620: **_okay, I have to go because mom is yelling at me_

**SllyRbbt913:** _all right, go you momma's boy_

**Clln620: **_see you tomorrow_

**SllyRbbt913:** _you should be so lucky_

I wasn't sure what to expect when Edward and Alice picked me up for school the next morning, but as soon as I saw the gift bag waiting in the back seat for me (Alice had totally stolen shotgun, the evil pixie), I knew something was going on. I got in, buckled my seatbelt, and stared at it.

"You can open it, it's yours," Alice said, twisting around in her seat to peer at me.

"She's just being nosy. I wouldn't tell her what was inside," Edward informed me.

"So it's for me?" I clarified.

"Yes, open it already, the suspense is killing me! Edward ran out early this morning to get it and refuses to let me see whatever it is!"

I blinked at her - hey, I still hadn't forgiven her - and picked up the bag. I pushed aside the tissue paper and plunged my hand inside, frowning slightly when I felt something really soft. I pulled the object out and stared at it for a full minute before shooting daggers with my glare at the back of Edward's head.

He'd given me a fuzzy, soft black and white stuffed _bunny._


End file.
